Ristò Pizza Stopped by Seoul

Ristò Pizza, ranked first in Asia and fifteenth in the world, came to Seoul for five days.

The popup was held at Artrio inside the Conrad Hotel in Yeouido. The restaurant itself is a large, high-ceilinged space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city at night. An unexpected setting for a Neapolitan pizza experience, but somehow it worked.

Chef Peppe was in the kitchen from the start, making each pizza by hand at an open counter in the center of the room. Watching him work before the meal even began set a certain tone for the evening.

The dinner was served as a course. It opened with bread and olive oil, followed by a prosciutto appetiser, then a octopus dish, and a gnocchi course before the main event arrived. Six pizzas to choose from, one per person. I ordered the Napoli Mia — handmade pork sausage over a broccoli cream base. The combination worked better than I expected, the richness of the sausage balanced quietly by the green beneath it.

What stayed with me most was the dough. It was genuinely different from anything you find at pizza restaurants in the city. Chewy, full of moisture, with a texture that made it clear this was something made with a different level of care.

There are restaurants worth traveling for. This time, the restaurant came to us.