Purezza is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

pizzeria operating in Brighton, London and Manchester. It is Europe's first all-vegan pizzeria, opening its first branch in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, UK, in November 2015. The company also manufactures its own vegan cheese, dubbed "Mozzarella 3.0", and it has set up a factory to mass produce it for foodservice and retail. The cheese is made with aquafaba.

History

Purezza, meaning 'Purity' in Italian, was founded by Tim Barclay and Stefania Evangelisti, who were inspired by the lack of vegan Italian options. Their second restaurant was announced in November 2017, and opened in Camden in March 2018. Purezza tripled the sized of its Camden branch in February 2020. A Manchester branch opened in June 2021. In August 2019, Purezza was mistakenly caught up in a drugs bust at

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

, when ingredients for its food were seized by police. The company received an initial £35,000 investment to open its vegan cheese factory in July 2018 at an investment pitching event in London, with a view to raising additional capital through Crowdcube. Purezza has stated that the cheese will be free from major allergens and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

. In 2023, Purezza acquired a majority stake in

La Fauxmagerie La Fauxmagerie Ltd (from French "false" or "imitation" and "cheese shop") is the UK's first vegan cheese shop. It sells plant-based substitutes for dairy cheese, operating a retail store in London's Shoreditch area as well as selling online a ...

Food

Purezza specialises in vegan pizza, but also provides a range of vegan alternatives to other Italian dishes such as lasagne, macaroni cheese, and tiramisu. They are also known for a range of raw food dishes, including raw cheeses and a raw pizza. In addition to its plant-based menu, Purezza also has an extensive gluten free menu, for which it has won a Silver Award from the Free From Eating Out Awards. During Christmas 2023, the restaurant in Brighton was reported to have been serving a vegan Christmas dinner menu with Christmas calzones and turkey dinners.

Awards

Purezza took part in the National Pizza Awards 2018, National Pizza of the Year 2018 in the UK with the Parmigiana Party pizza. They also won UK's Best Vegan Restaurant 2018 according to Vegfest UK. Purezza's head chef, Filippo Rosato, won Best Pizza from Abroad 2018 in the #pizzAward 2018 competition held in Naples. The team also won an award at the World Pizza Championship for the Pizza Classica category. The winning pizza was titled "The Promised Land" and used cavolo nero, tempeh, pioppini mushrooms, and a borlotti bean sauce. The dough was infused with

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Punk IPA.

References

{{reflist Vegetarian restaurants in the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 2015 Vegan restaurants