C19 Cycling Club: Pasquale 'Pappa Santa Maria' Chionchio
People like Pasquale are the reason why I love the cycling community.
People often ask, ‘What do you miss most about pre-lockdown life?’
Being outdoors without feeling guilty. Surfacing from my lockdown bunker for non-essential reasons, such as going for a fixed-gear spin around my local park, make me continually question the morality of our ‘hour-per-day’.
Yes, I realise there are more important things in the world than pizza… however, finding escapism from a swelling to-do-list (working from home, etc) and the uneasy feeling at the pit of my stomach - is quite difficult.
That is why my turbo trainer is a godsend right now. It’s my sky above these four walls. I can escape to the burning sensation of effort and my imagination can run free. I can pretend I’m leading out the Manx Missile or attacking from behind like Pantani. However, this is my selfish little world…
Going on a date (at our dinner table) with my girlfriend, Becky, every evening is a way of escaping together. Getting dressed-up to #makeamealofit.
Food isn’t just a necessity… it has the power to completely transform your mood. Sharing a meal is a great way to connect with others. The sensation of flavours and textures bursting into your mouth, the warm feeling of a full stomach and the care that goes into crafting a home-cooked meal are unbeatable.
It’s funny how ‘Normality’ now feels like escapism. A lesson to show appreciation and gratitude for everything we have.
Becky and I LOVE pizza. We’ve had a go at making our own (we love cooking Italian food), but nothing beats the wood-fired pizza ovens, artisan dough, fresh ingredients and Neapolitan tradition of Santa Maria Pizza… the BEST pizza in London. It’s actually the best pizza I have ever tasted, anywhere.
(Santa Maria Ealing - pre-pandemic) My favourite: Marinara, buffalo mozzarella DOP, basil.
Pasquale ‘Pappa Santa Maria’ Chionchio (co-founder of Santa Maria) reached out and gave some normality (escapism) to our lives. He must have sensed my Santa Maria withdrawals.
Pasquale: “Let me know if you fancy a pizza, will personally deliver it to you! (Or anything else you need...flour, tomato, pasta, yeast etc!)”
Me: “Pasquale, your offer is most generous and well-timed. I am down to my last bag of flour and none of our local shops has any! I am using it to make orecchiette...”
Pasquale: Do you want a pizza too? How many kgs of flour? Yeast? Pasta? Anything else? And don’t be shy, I’m serious. We are here to help”
You see, Pasquale is a cyclist. When I first met Pappa Santa Maria, we immediately connected over our love for classic Italian bikes, cycling history and food. Since my first slice of pizza-heaven, I visited Santa Maria every week, until the pandemic…
I never leave home without my keys, Campagnolo downtube shifter and my Santa Maria loyalty key fob.
I wrote a shopping list, expecting Pasquale to turn up in a delivery van.
Pasquale sent me a text, ‘I’m leaving soon’.
Then, ‘I’m outside.’
I popped out to meet him with my COVID-19 precaution kit (hand-sani, etc).
I was expecting to find a van parked outside, ‘where is he?’
He arrived by bike, obviously… Only a true cyclist would hand-deliver 5kg of flour, 2.5kg of tinned tomatoes, 4x dough balls, Buffalo Mozarella, Burrata, yeast, etc, in a handlebar basket…
We shared a brief but meaningful conversation, both aware that we shouldn’t linger.
Then he rode off, like a knight in shining armour.
After wiping everything down with sanitiser, we melted the tomatoes into a gooey marinara, stretched and shaped the dough, started the rise in a frying pan, finished off in the grill and scattered with fresh Buffalo Mozarella and basil.
Nothing beats a pizza from the Santa Maria ovens. Even our largest frying pan was too small to stretch out the dough properly, but this was the best meal Becky and I have shared during lockdown (even if they were a bit smaller and thicker).
The following night, Burrata and Nduja on an arrabbiata base.
Surely there are more important people to look after than you, Gareth? You’re fit, healthy, still able to work from home, etc.
Yes, yes there are. But I can assure you, Pasquale has already been taking care of his local community, staff and their families, many of which are Italian.
Italy, as you know, has been hit hard by the virus. Pasquale has enabled his staff to keep working in a safe environment, food delivery services, etc, so they can keep earning money to send to their families.
All the staff at Santa Maria are like one big family. They are all helping the local community surrounding each restaurant. His leadership has created a culture of giving and care.
It’s important to reach out to loved ones during the lockdown, but reaching out to someone unexpectedly is true kindness.
Thank you for this lesson, Pappa Santa Maria. I will continue the momentum you have begun.
I highly recommend you order a takeaway if you’re close enough, or pay them a visit in Ealing, Chelsea or Fitzrovia, when this is all over - santamariapizzeria.com
Stay indoors. Spread flour and kindness, not the virus.
Peace & love, Gareth.
(Pasquale needed a cap upgrade 😉)