Pizza is fire!

#neapolitanstyle #housemadecheeses #italianchef

Cheeseria is a restaurant on Dostyk Avenue that’s has been championing the bold flavors of Italian ingredients since 2023. Inside, there’s a small salumeria selling farm products, ready-to-cook items, and cheeses made on site using traditional methods.

Pizza here is in the hands of Ivan Enrico Damo, an Italian from Lombardy who draws on time-honored Neapolitan recipes. The dough is cold-fermented for 36 hours, then hand-stretched and slid into a blazing oven: the crust puffs up with charred spots, while the center stays soft. Toppings run from classics like Margherita and Four Cheeses to bolder choices with with Texas brisket, or pork belly and mushrooms.

#neapolitanstyle #woodfiredoven #housemadecheeses

There are several reasons to stop by Alexander Orlov’s restaurant on the way to Medeu. First and most obvious is the country-escape feel, the fresh air, and the sweeping mountain views. Another key part of the project, and yet another reason to visit, is the on-site creamery, Mountain Brie. Burrata, halloumi, mozzarella, stracciatella, and other cheeses are made right there: some are sold in the shop, some go into the menu, and they really shine on the pizza.

Most importantly, the pizza is baked in a wood-fired oven, with signature charred spots and that warm aroma of burning logs. Toppings range from the classic Margherita to richer combinations like pear with gorgonzola, bolognese with mushrooms, and the fiery Diablo.

#neapolitanstyle #housemadecheeses

Syrovarnya is a two-story spot in Dostyk Plaza, Arkady Novikov’s project built around its own cheese production. Downstairs, there’s a bright dining room with cozy seating and display cases full of temptation; upstairs, an open kitchen.

Pizza is made following a strict process: dough with 00 flour, water, sea salt, and fresh yeast is fermented for 72 hours at 4 °C, then hand-stretched to form a thin center and puffy edges. The Morello Forni oven is fired up to 400 °C, so each pizza bakes in about a minute. On top: sauce from Italian tomatoes and the house cheeses — mozzarella, burrata, and stracciatella. The crowd favorite is stracciatella and mortadella, topped with sweet Bolognese sausage, pistachios, pepper, and fresh, delicate cheese.

#neapolitanstyle

Percorso chef Oleg Petrichenko’s personal take on Italy. Their pizza dough is made with a house sourdough starter, perfected over time until it delivered an airy crust with leopard spotting and a slightly moist center. As the menu proudly notes: 65–70% hydration (water-to-flour ratio), cold fermentation for 48 hours or more, and careful hand-stretching. Toppings span chicken meatballs and scamorza, pastrami and mozzarella, lamb and peperonata, rabbit and romesco sauce. 

It’s also worth coming for the house-made pasta, the wild shrimp risotto that’s been a bestseller since day one, house-made ice cream, and weekend brunches that look as good as they taste.

One of the best-known restaurants in the abr family has been setting the bar high for years. It’s an Italian trattoria-style place that’s always lively and pleasantly snug, especially at the branch on Kabanbay Batyr Avenue. Inside: yellow walls, vintage lamps with shades, wooden bookcases  filled with books, and small framed paintings.

At Del Papa, the dough begins with biga, a pre-fermented blend of flour, water and yeast. No oil, no sugar. The flavor is built on proper fermentation. Once the biga is mixed into the main batch of flour and water, it becomes a soft, moist dough that bakes up with large airy bubbles and an elastic crust. It then cold-ferments for two days, developing a complex taste and its signature aroma. Next, it’s hand-stretched, the cornicione (the puffy pizza edge) is shaped, and the toppings are added. Right before serving, the pizza goes into the oven for 60–90 seconds, then straight to the table. Crowd favorites include the Margherita, the beef salami, and the pizza with mortadella, stracciatella, and pistachios.

Spoiler: a new Del Papa is set to open at Medeu in February 2026, styled like a Dolomites mountain chalet. That’s where we’ll be trying pizza from a new recipe, baked in a wood-fired oven.

#neapolitanstyle

Down in the lower part of the city, Bella Ciao is a two-story restaurant inspired by southern Italy: painted ceilings, lemons in the decor, walls packed with art, and signature bright ceramics on the tables. The ground floor is compact and lively, closer to the oven; upstairs is roomier and made for long dinners. The menu’s visual identity revolves around Bella, a fictional hostess whose short notes and sketches thread through the whole lineup. 

Pizza is made with Italian flour, the dough is rested for 48 hours and baked at high heat, giving you a thin center, puffy edges, and classic Neapolitan leopard spotting. Toppings are refreshingly honest: Margherita, Pepperoni, pear with gorgonzola, and meat-heavy mixes. Instead of a knife, your pizza comes with scissors, not as a gimmick, but for the same easy cutting you’ll see in trattorias in southern Italy.

#romanstyle #lessgluten

Some pizzerias stick to the classic round pie, but at Perla di Roma they go for Roman-style pinza, baked in a rectangle. Here, the dough is made with Scrocchiarella flour from Bergamo, a low-gluten blend. It bakes up dry and crispy on the outside, while the center stays soft and elastic.

Toppings are genuinely varied, with offbeat options like turkey with apples and mascarpone, or shrimp with stracciatella. Classic lovers can opt for the Margherita, Quattro Formaggi, or ham and mushrooms. Perla di Roma even makes pizza with pineapples, and it’s nothing like the meme-famous «Hawaiian» style.

#romanstyle #italianchef

Giardino gets a perfect ten for interior aesthetics. There’s a spacious terrace with a fountain, like a little European courtyard. Inside: marble tabletops, velvet drapes, vintage mirrors, and natural wood. The kitchen is led by brand chef Fabrizio Fatucci from Rome.

In Rome, you go to Trastevere for that kind of pizza; in Almaty, you go to Kurmangazy. The dough is rolled out thin in the Roman style, and they pride themselves on crisp, dried edges with a tidy char. Toppings are minimalist but full of character: a Margherita with horse meat, Four Italian Cheeses, tuna with red onion, and mushrooms with truffle. To keep the feast going, we highly recommend their real carbonara made without cream, a true rarity in the city.

#ownstyle

Make Love Pizza comes from Tomsk. In Almaty, it’s not a franchise, but a story of its own. The kitchen is led by brand chef Maxim Muslimov, who, before opening the place, toured bazaars and wholesale markets, sampled local produce, and put together a little map of Almaty woven into the menu. That’s why signature pizzas like the Old School (chicken pepperoni with mozzarella) and the Woodstock (ham, button mushrooms, and garlic aioli) sit alongside local experiments: horse meat here, shaved kurt there.

The dough is a point of pride in its own right. It’s made with water, flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and oil, with a portion of finished dough folded into to the mix. This speeds up fermentation, but the dough still rests for 48 hours. Over that time, the yeast consumes the sugars, the dough becomes aerated and light, and the pizza comes out with crispy yet airy edges.

The space also feels airy: there are fewer tables than there could be, and that’s intentional. Panoramic windows are a signature detail and a metaphor for openness. Local touches are everywhere: artist Darion Shabbash painted the walls and several canvases; a silhouette of the Alatau ridges runs across the ceiling and snaps into a single image from the right spot; the bar is faced with locally sourced flagstone; and several tabletops are made from recycled plastic collected in the mountains. On one, you can even spot a Sprite cap.

Photos: restaurant websites and social media, Yandex Maps