Meet Pizza Maestro: The Pizza Joint Folks of Legazpi Village Rave About

(SPOT.ph) Recently, if you are one of the people working in the bars and clubs in Legazpi Village, specifically around Makati Central Square, it's likely you've had a pizza from Pizza Maestro. The restaurant is on the second floor of the Creekside Building, near Big Fuzz and Ultramilk. It's a modest spot, with plastic folding tables and monobloc chairs. But don't be fooled—there's good reason that everyone in this area talks up this place. 

The place is the brainchild of Japanese father-and-son duo Enki and Daisuke Shimizu. Co-owner Kristine How says that the two didn't have any background in food service, so she and the other local partners had their doubts about opening a restaurant. But being food lovers, they decided to back the two anyway. 

As of this writing, Pizza Maestro has been open for almost a year, serving up Japanese-style Neapolitan pizzas, with a crisp exterior and an airy but chewy crust. They do pies topped with unagi (eel) or chicken teriyaki. And this might, on first instinct, seem like a gimmick, but one bite into these pies indicates that some real thought was put into making these flavors work in a pizza context.

There are fourteen pizzas in total on the menu, split into three categories. There are pizzas with a red sauce base, like the classic Margherita (P295). It’s a great version of this ageless pie, and really brings to focus the quality of the ingredients that they’re using. At its price, it’s also a terrific deal, and would make for a fine lunch for two. They have a version of the Margherita with cream cheese, for those looking for a little richness. They also have a classic pepperoni, and during one of our visits, they were sampling various brands of pepperoni to find the best one for their pies. Clearly, there is some dedication here to providing the optimal pizza.

With the white pizzas, the menu starts to get more adventurous, with a Spicy Mixed Mushroom (P430/10-inch and P540/12-inch) with shiitakes and jalapeños, or the Shawarma (P585/10-inch and P675/12-inch), which stacks spiced ground beef, pickled cucumber and onion, and adds on drizzles of a garlicky white sauce and an extra cheese sauce. It’s a bit overloaded, but the shawarma pizza does deliver on the promise of its name. They have a Mortadella with Crunchy Pistachio (P580/10-inch and P675/12-inch) pie, a classic Italian sandwich combination that they translated into a pizza. 

The final category is "premium," which includes the aforementioned Unagi (P660/10-inch and P795/12-inch) and Chicken Teriyaki (P445/10-inch and P510/12-inch) pizzas. What makes them work is their restraint. The flavors are there, but they aren't meant to overwhelm the experience of having pizza. They're finely tuned to work with the dough and the cheese, delivering the flavors of the inspirations without drowning out everything else.

Chicken on pizza has historically been kind of a dicey proposition, but the chicken teriyaki pie feels remarkably composed. And the tender chunks of eel meat in the unagi pie work surprisingly well in the pizza context, the time it spends in the hot oven providing a slight char that just lifts it up. It’s no wonder that, for how strange it might sound, the unagi pie is Pizza Maestro’s best-selling pizza.

Pies can be ordered in ten-inch and twelve-inch sizes. And they can be split into halves, so you can try two pies in one order. And it's all reasonably priced, especially for how well crafted all of these pies are. It's no wonder that all of their neighbors are fans, from the high-end cocktail bars to the hostess clubs. Everyone here raves about Pizza Maestro, and it's quickly become a fixture of this strange little neighborhood. 

Pizza Maestro is at Creekside Building, Amorsolo St., corner V.A. Rufino St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. For more information, check out Pizza Maestro's Instagram page.