Authentic Italian “pizza al taglio” has arrived in Scotland for the first time with the opening of Pronto Slice – the latest venture from a fast-growing Edinburgh catering business.
Pronto Slice boss Michael Notarangelo spent months researching and perfecting the concept – inspired by his family’s Italian heritage – before opening the new premises in a prime spot just a few steps from Edinburgh Castle esplanade.
Although a regular feature in small pizzerias across Italy, Pronto Slice is the first to introduce to Scotland pizza al taglio – which translates as sliced pizza – and is also referred to as Roman-style pizza.
Michael said: “Our family comes from a small village in the Lazio region – which has Rome at its centre – and in every town and city there are small pizzerias selling pizza al taglio.
“It’s a way of life for Italians to stop for slice, or have it wrapped up to take home.
“I knew it would be a winner in Scotland too, so I wanted to be sure I made our pizzas at Pronto Slice as authentic as possible. That’s meant endless research on traditional Roman style pizzas, working with high hydration dough and tweaking the recipe until I was able to recreate the pizza I remember from my childhood.”
While other places in Scotland sell pizza slices, Pronto Slice’s differ as they are light and airy with a soft and crispy base. The pizzas are at cooked in giant bases with a range of toppings, before being sliced to order and served.
Pronto Slice, based at 541 Castlehill at the top of the Royal Mile and launched in partnership with the Edinburgh-based property to retail company Kiltane Group, marks the first “physical” trading premises for Belmonte Catering, a bespoke street food operation which Michael Notarangelo set up in 2017. It operates a range of street food concepts, including Pronto Pizza, which was launched and sited in Edinburgh Zoo and which provided the inspiration for Pronto Slice.
Michael added: “I’ve been determined that Belmonte Catering should never stand still, so while our street food operations have continued to grow over the years, the opening of our first trading shop site is a big landmark for the business.
“But we’re not stopping there, and early next year we are aiming to open our first bricks and mortar catering operation in Edinburgh.”
Belmonte Catering – named after the Italian village where Michael’s family originate from – currently has four concepts: Rollys Ice Cream, the first in Scotland to serve unique ice cream ‘rolls’; Dog n Bon, which specialises in gourmet hot dogs and loaded fries; StikWaffle, a hot dessert concept; as well as Pronto Pizza.
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
