One of the best pizza al taglio in Rome is hidden in a tiny hole behind the Circo Massimo

Looking for the 24-square-metre hole hidden among trendy signs and more or less touristy tables, between Piramide and Circo Massimo, is quite an endeavour. Luckily, however, there is a clue: the queue that repeatedly stretches out in front of the pizzeria. Alessandro Ruver, one of the most loyal disciples of Gabriele Bonci, has neither tables nor signs: he stands behind the counter, among trays and ovens that he constantly tends to, baking and pulling out some of the best pizza in teglia in the Capital. In the queue, a mixed crowd: foreign tourists and kids on their lunch break, office workers and local politicians… even the regional councillor Paolo Giuntarelli is often seen (a passionate, undercover customer): all waiting patiently to taste this little miracle of flavours (starting with the ragu pizza) that Alessandro manages to deliver in conditions that calling extreme is almost an understatement.

Alessandro Ruver and cooked pizza

Alessandro’s “ragu pizza” has already become a must in Rome: it won us over just a few months after its opening, two years ago. And it has also conquered German palates, involving him in an adventure that started in Cologne and is already expanding to other German cities. Its hallmark is being a “rustic ragu”: it even feels like tasting coda alla vaccinara. It is extremely moreish.

“In fact,” smiles Ruver, “even Gabriele Bonci tells me that deliciousness is the defining trait of my pizza. So much so that I ‘built’ with him what I consider the complete expression of my idea of pizza: chicken and potatoes. I wanted to recreate the scent that filled the air when entering a Roman rotisserie: chicken, wine, rosemary, roast potatoes.” These slices – with their crunchiness, the bite’s thickness and the overall creaminess – win over the soul of anyone who tastes them. They are truly incredible, hard to describe! “In reality, it expresses the concept I learned from Gabriele and which is central for me: pizza is not baked, it is cooked. Here the dough, mozzarella, chicken and potatoes are cooked together: 9 minutes under the heating elements of the Castelli oven at power 4. A ‘cheeky’ bake, but the only way to achieve the result I wanted: otherwise the mozzarella would have been overcooked or the chicken would have ‘escaped’. That’s the pizza that probably represents me best.”

Only top-quality ingredients

For Alessandro, it all starts with the dough: flours from Brescia and Italy by Molino Belotti, Gerardo Di Nola tomatoes, Flaminio extra virgin olive oil from Trevi. These are the building blocks forming the foundations of this Roman pizza. Then comes the rest: Chianina beef from Borboni butchers in Rome (for the ragu and for roast beef), cheeses from Faraoni in Sutri: sutrinella (semi-aged), primo sale and stracchino; but also dairy from the Fratelli Gentili creamery in Valle Luterana: ricotta and ewe’s caciotta and then primo sale with lemon, chilli, saffron.
Meanwhile mozzarella and stracciata arrive daily from Terra Roma in Maccarese. The chicken, when available, comes from Fattoria Pulicaro in Viterbo. Vegetables from Piana di Alzium in Ladispoli. And then two gems, exclusively: cured meats from Macelleria Avagliano in Sabaudia and tomatoes from Velletri, produced for Ruver by Le Meraviglie della Terra. “Avagliano, a family of butchers for four generations, raise their pigs in the Circeo National Park: they produce exclusively for me, we work together on recipes and curing,” explains Alessandro. “From them come salamis, loins, pancette tese, hams, shoulders… With Le Meraviglie, instead, we are developing a co-branded passata made with four different types of tomato.”

Little technology, many ideas and inventions

When we step in – or rather peek into the threshold of his 24 square metres – Alessandro is working on wild boar stew. Everything strictly done in the oven, with preparations coming in and out according to staggered baking and processing slots: there are no hobs here. Everything is done in the oven. “A limitation,” smiles Ruver, “but also a stimulus: I am forced to find ideas and solutions to overcome the cramped space and lack of equipment. But that’s the fun part. For example, this wild boar stew which will end up being unrefined, rough: rustic like my ragu. But that’s exactly what defines me and, in the end, what people like. Obviously, everything changes with the seasons and the availability of ingredients, which I always source strictly from my trusted suppliers. Even this wild boar, like sometimes other types of game, comes from a farm in Viterbo. But only when it’s available. A few days ago I made a reinterpretation of pizza e fichi, with salami instead of prosciutto. But I got the figs from ‘my’ stall at the Campagna Amica market in San Teodoro, just a short walk from here: once those ran out, no more pizza e fichi!” Luckily, the least likely to run out are Avagliano’s cured meats: tasting his shoulder over a stracciata on Alessandro’s ultra-thin, crunchy pizza is an emotion you can enjoy even a little beyond the season.

A pizza as pop as it gets

What we couldn’t pin down was the “definition” of this pizza. How to classify it? How to frame it? Roman pizza? Pop pizza or gourmet pizza? The initial impression is almost of “fine dining in a tray”, but the contexts, prices and format are nothing like fine dining.

“I offer a pop pizza,” says Alessandro, without hesitation. “The prices are popular: a slice of white pizza costs €2, tomato pizza €2.50. The classics are €3 and the specials a maximum of €6. That means you can have lunch for €5. And with €12 you eat two really substantial slices. But then, I also call it popular because the dough and preparation directly recall Roman tradition. Gabriele makes 1,300-gram loaves for the tray, mine are 900 as tradition commands. I use type 1 flours and make a 70% hydration with fresh brewer’s yeast. In short, Roman pizza.” Just as deeply Roman is he himself, Alessandro Ruver. “My surname can be misleading, but it only goes back to some distant Austrian ancestors. My great-grandfather, in fact, was the founder of Forno Buglia in Monteporzio Catone. And so, skipping two generations, I start again from him, from dough and flours.”

Surely, grandfather Ruver would be happy to see the whole family of his grandson working in an adventure that brings prestige to the Capital with its pizza: at the counter and ovens, besides Alessandro, there are his father Maurizio and mother Emanuela, together with his aunt Alessia. In the backstage, between orders and invoices, is his sister Jessica. “It’s a great team, I’m proud of it,” smiles Alessandro. “We tell who we are and what we do. And our customers notice: the most beautiful thing for me is making them have fun when they arrive and put themselves in my hands, letting themselves be pampered by our preparations, and I see them happy for that small moment of wonder we manage to give them.” After all, curiosity is one of the most evident and best traits of this young pizza maker.

“The problem,” said good old Charles Bukowski, “is that we look for someone to grow old with. While the secret is to find someone to stay children with.” The writer refers to the ability to keep, even as adults, the innate curiosity of children, namely the enthusiasm and ability to marvel at the world. Alessandro does this well and also encourages his customers to keep that curiosity alive. More pop than that!