La Piccola, Steenberg Village, Tokai is my new Italian ristorante discovery. The owner Oliver Jacobs, is a hands-on manager who with his attention to detail ensures high standards of service and food excellence.

La Piccola Ristorante

The ambiance is relaxed and casual with Italian music played in the background. Children are welcome here and families form a large part of the clientele especially on Friday evenings. There is a small lounge area to relax in with a glass of wine or cappuchino. Tables spill out onto the terrace where views of Muizenberg Mountain form the backdrop.

Oliver’s food and the wine list are what make La Piccola special. A small but quality wine list has something on it for everyone and there is a full bar facility. What drew me back after the first visit is that wine by glass is either The Goatfather, Italian cultivar blend, or Buiten Blanc from Buitenverwachting. At other local pizzeria’s, wine by the glass turns out to be an undrinkable fourth run blend, so La Piccola’s offering is a huge improvement. Having said that, more wines by the glass should be on offer since this is easily accomplished with a can of argon gass on hand. One squish into the open bottle and the wine keeps for weeks so there can be no wastage.

A seemingly difficult request for other pizza establisments to fulfill is to make my pizza 

Gnocchi with asparagus and gorgonzola, seafood pizza

with only about 25% of the cheese. Oliver customised my pizza by removing all cheese and replacing with a few bocconi.  This was arguably the most delicious pizza I’ve had since I was in Italy. On top of that the cost of the cheese was deducted from the bill and we only paid for the mozzarella. My difficult to please significant-other, raved about his seafood pizza.   

La Piccola’s contact number is (27) 21 7013589

Email: reservations@lapiccola.co.za