Ferdinando’s Pizza

When Diego Milesi met Kimon Bisogno on a hot summer day on a beach in Ibiza he marvelled at the fact that she had an Italian surname and even more an Italian passport… what was this South African girl doing here and what was she saying?

Fast forward five years and Diego, a young Italian from San Pellegrino Terme has started Cape Town’s first underground pizza club in the lounge of his lovers apartment – not speaking much English – Diego attracts the hip, happening and Italian community of Cape Town. Wood fired pizza made simply over tales of adventures through India, Indonesia and how he arrived in Cape Town with a one way ticket – and immediately sent back but saved by a sweet man who’d been working in the airport for 20 years who snuck him to buy a return ticket for a visas sake. And this is how it goes when you are in Diegos company, like every Italian he loves to talk, he loves to cook and he loves to smoke cigarettes. So your pizza might take a while … until Kimon swiftly redirects him back into the kitchen… focusing for a moment on your meal.

Ferdinando’s Pizza has now grown from a back door secret pizza club into a 70 seater quirky sit down pizzeria in Observatory. Ferdinando’s pizza has been made famous by the pizza but also the delicious homemade aioli you are served with homemade grissini. All complementing the owners heritage. In 2022 it won top spot in the 2022 Porcupine Ridge Pizzeria Challenge and is officially the most loved pizzeria in South Africa, an incredible result made possible by the love and dedication that Diego Milesi and his late partner Kiki Bisogno put into it, day in and day out.

Come enjoy a lazy lunch during the week when you will find Diego doing everything from the bar to the pizza making. In the evenings he can usually be found playing the African djembe with his tribe in Salt River or doing Kung-fu in the city… bringing them all back to the pizzeria for a grappa.