Brings Britalian flair and innovation in authentic Italian hand-tossed gourmet pizzas, pastas, salads, beverages, desserts, and more, using fresh, largely locally sourced ingredients
Also showcases its brand-new menu featuring artfully crafted cocktails, mocktails, sangrias, and a wine portfolio complemented by all-new bar bite offerings
Freshly brewed Italian coffee makes the overall experience more rewarding
It’s perhaps the best thing to have happened exclusively to Mohali in entire upper North India. United Kingdom based iconic and innovative gourmet pizza brand PizzaExpress has opened its spacious and stylish casual dining Pizzeria-Café in the busy food court of CP-67 Mall recently.
This is the 30th distinctly designed restaurant of the six-decades-old brand in India and the first north of the National Capital Region of Delhi, the others being in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
Bringing the international franchise to India is Gourmet Investments Private Limited, the food and beverage vertical of Punjab’s own Bharti Family Office.
Gourmet Investments, steered by its Executive Chairman Ramit Bharti Mittal, has brought to India a diverse portfolio of some of the finest international restaurant brands focused on casual dining to best-in-class culinary experiences and innovative concept restaurants like PizzaExpress (gourmet pizza brand from the UK), Chili’s American Grill & Bar (Texmex Cuisine), Ministry of Crab (Asia’s top 50 for 8 years in a row) and P.F. Chang’s (American Pan-Asian Cuisine).
Advertisement
The journey of PizzaExpress, started in 1965 by Peter Boizot, began with the opening of the first legendary outlet on Wardour Street, SoHo in London. It’s now a global phenomenon operating 450+ pizzerias in the UK alone with presence in 13 other countries, including India.
Interiors
With a focus on elevating the dining experiences of guests, Pizzeria-Café CP-67 has laid emphasis on beautifully designed interiors, featuring vibrant pops of colour, captivating artwork, wooden flooring, and wall panelling to create a sense of warmth and comfort. To add a touch of entertainment, expert Pizzaiolos donning their iconic striped t-shirts skillfully toss and flair pizza dough in an open kitchen.
Bringing an authentic Britalian (British-Italian) flair and innovative offerings, the casual dining restaurant offers its signature all-day dining experience (11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.) to cater to all age groups and for every occasion.
From authentic Italian hand-tossed gourmet pizzas, pastas, salads, beverages, desserts, and more, using fresh, largely locally sourced ingredients, PizzaExpress also showcases its brand-new menu featuring artfully crafted cocktails, mocktails, sangrias, and a wine portfolio complemented by all-new bar bite offerings. And, of course, there’s always a freshly brewed Italian coffee to make the overall PizzaExpress experience more rewarding.
Romana
Its signature is the thin, hand-tossed, and delectable ‘Romana’, a thin crust base inspired by pizzas from Rome, along with the fiery yet irresistible Calabrese, a specialty rectangular pizza from the Calabria region in Italy packed with southern Italian punch and unique hot flavours.
Also featured on the unique menu are Calzones from Naples and a Leggera (sub 600 calories) section for the health conscious. A special curated selection has Dough Balls Doppio, Penne Arrabbiata, Baked Vanilla Cheesecake, Protein Bomb and Berry Frappe.
For a guilt-free experience, IL Padrino pizza with a twist, from the Leggera section, is a must have. Featuring a salad-filled hole in the middle it means all taste but is lighter in calories. The non-veg version is topped with grilled chicken, baby mozzarella and veggie goodness.
Not to forget, the signature Tomato Passata sauce, invented in 1965 by the Greci Family of Italy, which is exported to all PizzaExpress restaurants globally. Each tin of the signature Passata is made with San Marzano tomatoes, crushed within 12 hours of harvest and hand-finished with basil leaves.
Bundle combos for a discount
For the first few weeks, PizzaExpress CP-67 will be offering bundle combos for 2-4 people at discounted rates to expose the guests to a wide variety of their offerings.
Responding to the general health awareness drives by the doctors’ community and schools wherein pizzas, etc are categorized as unhealthy junk food, Ramit Bharti Mittal and his team members, including culinary head Jerry Thomas, clarified that none of the ingredients they use in their entire menu is ultra processed, which makes a dish unhealthy.
“All the ingredients we use are high quality, natural and fresh, largely sourced locally,” they asserted, and in a lighter vein shared that “the only concern can be intake of high calories, which need to be burnt through physical activity, as in case of any other high-calorie traditional Indian culinary delights like samosas, kachouries, gulab jamuns, jalebis, etc.”
For local tastes
Jerry Thomas added: “We have curated signature recipes keeping in mind local tastes. For example, Spicy American Hottest, Padrino (grilled chicken), and Chicken and Paneer coriander pesto pizzas have been specially crafted to appeal to local flavours.”
While Krunal Chahwala, Brand CEO of PizzaExpress, promised the guests that “the brand’s commitment to redefine the local dining scene is unwavering,” Ajay Singhal, COO & Director at GIPL, shared, “At Gourmet Investments, we’re dedicated to our journey from 30 to 100 PizzaExpress outposts across the country while championing our promise to deliver the best-in-class experience to our patrons.”
PizzaExpress’ journey so far, and planned growth trajectory in India
The first PizzaExpress pizzeria was opened in Colaba, Mumbai near the Gateway of India in a heritage building called Dhanraj Mahal. The expansion was slow to begin with as the new brand went through a learning curve. Then Covid hit the entire hospitality industry hard. Having learnt its lessons and developed a winning formula, the brand opened 14 outlets in 2023, and now with the opening of the Mohali restaurant the total strength of the chain has risen to 30.
The chain looks to start dominating now, with 15 more outlets planned to be opened in the coming months – three to four more in Chandigarh tricity, as also in Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Chennai, Kolkatta, Jaipur, etc. The target is to cross 100 outlets in the next three years.
Fact Sheet:
Coordinates: Shop No. 20, Third Floor, CP 67 Mall, Sector 67, Mohali.
Operational Hours: Daily 11:30 am to 11:30 pm.
Website: https://www.pizzaexpress.in/
