Neapolitan pizza-making has just gained World Heritage status, but vegan versions are already available at a Budapest ruin bar. Using a real wood-burning oven and plant-based ingredients, Vegażżi offers the chance for vegans to enjoy all varieties of the southern Italian treat, from margherita to Mexican and marinara. Found at Anker't, the place is open from Thursdays to Saturdays after 6pm, and occasionally on Sundays, too. Vegażżi founder György Preyer shares the details behind this cool concept.
Now, vegan fans of pizza don’t have to make any compromises when selecting toppings for this UNESCO-listed food in Budapest. A new wooden stall installed at Anker’t serves plant-based pizza made with authentic Neapolitan and alternative ingredients. Based on the classic Italian 00 flour, the dough is left for leavening for 48 hours. Then the thin-crust treat with a slightly inflated rim comes right from a wood-fired oven, where it’s baked for just 60 to 90 seconds. The flatbread of the pizza is bubbly and charred in spots, a trademark of this genre.
“Many of the pizza places use an abundant amount of toppings to cover bad quality crust,” says Preyer, whose selection also includes pizza marinara. Its minimal features of tomato sauce, garlic, oregano and olive oil mean that few other restaurants offer it. For the margherita, Vegażżi adds rice mozzarella, the Bolognese is made with soy granules and the Hungarian-style pizza ungherese comes with vegan sausages.
A permanent item on the menu is verde, covered with spinach pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, rocket and cherry tomatoes. Another one, autunno, is enhanced with pumpkin purée, chestnut and truffle oil. In addition, Vegażżi offers a specialty of the month. March means pizza Messicano, spiced up with chili beans, jalapeño, spring onion, plant-based cheese sauce, tortilla chips and olive oil.
Pizza prices range from 1,290 to 1,790 forints. The moderate cost and the fine-quality alternative ingredients should attract a rising number of carnivorous guests.
