Does London need another pizzeria? Perhaps not. The capital may have reached ‘peak pizza’, but it has somehow managed to find room for one more, though strictly speaking, Yard Sale Pizza isn’t new. Capitalising on the success of the restaurant’s first location in Clapton, East London, Chef Nick Buckland and his team have launched a second restaurant in Finsbury Park, bringing the brand’s award-winning recipes to the north of the city.
Given London’s fully saturated pizza scene, the offerings here accordingly venture beyond tried and tested territory, with a creative menu based around five staple stone-baked pizzas that verge on experimental, yet are solidly well executed. The ‘TSB’, for example, is a healthful combination of tender stem broccoli, manchego, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil, while sides like garlic pizza bread with fior di latte mozzarella and Marmite playfully test boundaries. It’s all finished with gelato from Nonna’s in Highury, and washed down with beer from Hackney’s Five Points Brewery, who have also exclusively collaborated with Buckland on a series of beer-spiked ingredients for the pizzas here.
Like everything else about Yard Sale Pizza, the restaurant’s interior doesn’t stick to the script. Designed by local studio, Fettle, the dining room has the slight hint of a vintage Formica kitchen about it, with peach walls panelled with teal-coloured wood, chequered tile flooring and blackboard menus. Tabletops and countertops made from recycled yoghurt pots by Welsh firm Smile Plastics are a left-field décor detail and a suitable summary of the cheerful ethos of this place, while strip lighting and exposed pipework lend an unexpected industrial touch. Yard Sale may be one of many, but it certainly has the edge.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
54 Blackstock Road
-
Is this the world’s most comfortable sofa? Cozmo and Pearson Lloyd invite you to find outPearson Lloyd and Cozmo lay bare the design process behind ‘Hug’, their new high-backed sofa design, at the eye-opening exhibition ‘Comfort Lab’ during LDF
-
A Mexican clifftop retreat offers both drama, and a sense of placeCasa Yuri, a clifftop retreat by Zozaya Arquitectos, creates the perfect blend of drama and cosiness on Mexico's Pacific Coast
-
Tour David Lynch's house as it hits the marketDavid Lynch's LA estate is for sale at $15m, and the listing pictures offer a glimpse into the late filmmaker's aesthetic and creative universe
-
Carmela’s joins London’s pizza renaissanceA Little Italy-inspired pizzeria lands in Islington with 13-inch pies, pepperoni heat and big flavour energy
-
Has the ice cream parlour come of age?A global wave of architecture studios is treating the scoop as spectacle, turning parlours into immersive social spaces
-
Legado brings a bold Spanish legacy to ShoreditchMichelin-starred chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s second venture marries design-led interiors with regional Spanish flavours rarely found in London
-
The Macbeth, an icon of indie sleaze, goes from grotty to gastroAn East End legend meets Portuguese small plates in Jamie Allan’s ambitious revival of a beloved Hackney watering hole
-
A complete collection of Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists Series’ is on display in LondonA 30-year project reaching 100 volumes is being celebrated with an exhibition at the 45 Park Lane hotel, including limited-edition works by Kaws and Dana Schutz
-
London’s best pizza restaurant gets a new home in MayfairSecure a slice of New York-style pizza in central London as Crisp Pizza teams up with the Devonshire pub to set up shop in the relaunched The Marlborough
-
At this east London listening bar, mezcal-fuelled cocktails hit as hard as the basslinesIn Bethnal Green, Little Fires pairs vinyl grooves with mezcal margaritas and Oaxacan sharing plates
-
Harry Nuriev’s Noisy Oyster London bistro isn’t quite finished – and that’s the pointA futuristic, work-in-progress aesthetic forms a striking backdrop for a new, sustainably focused seafood bistro in Shoreditch
