This year my partner Rachel set us the challenge of trying a new pizza spot every month. So when the opportunity came up to try Cattivo, a pizza place in Cirencester, we snapped it up and pencilled it in as our February pizza date night.
The Cattivo menu is small but specialist, offering six classic Neapolitan-style 12-inch pizzas, cooked in a state-of-the-art Gozney wood-fired oven using kiln-dried oak from the Bathurst Estate.
Cattivo’s sourdough bases are made with specialist pizza flour from Matthews Cotswold Flour in Chipping Norton, using a slow fermentation process. They’re based at The Old Kennels in Cirencester, right on the edge of Cirencester Park, which by the way looks well worth a visit in its own right.
The Old Kennels is also home to Roots and Seeds and Naughty Gelato, all owned by the same people, as well as a Pilates reformer studio directly opposite the pizza place, which feels slightly off-putting when you’re about to dive headfirst into a naughty treat.
The modern stable-style buildings have a cool, hip edge. Inside Cattivo, a luminous pink sign hangs proudly with the word “naughty”, prints spelling out pizza line the walls, and the open kitchen and pizza oven take centre stage. The menu branding is cheeky and fun, and the overall vibe is easy-going, warm and laid back, unfussy and understated. The food really does speak for itself.
We started with dough balls.
All the dough is made fresh, and I watched the chef cutting it into little squares before they arrived at the table with a generous dollop of garlic butter. Pillowy balls of pure deliciousness. £7.
For pizza, we ordered the Marinara (£12) with added anchovies (£2) and olives (£1), and the Parma (£17) with fior di latte, Parma ham, rocket and mozzarella.
What really stood out was the quality of the ingredients. The fior di latte had a light creaminess and a delicate milky freshness that lifted the whole pizza, and the prosciutto was crisp, deeply savoury and tasted genuinely superior in quality, not just a topping but a key player. They also seemed more than happy to tailor pizzas. I was tempted by the spicy bad boy and overheard the table behind us adjusting it to make it less fiery.
The dough was beautifully flavoured, with crusts that are absolutely perfect for dunking into whatever dip you’ve chosen.
To drink, I couldn’t decide on a red wine and the waitress brought me two small samples to try, both excellent. I went for the Chianti at £7.90, which was spot on.
I loved the simplicity of the menu, but there was no way we were leaving without pudding. Their legendary tiramisu arrived as a huge slab, with a strong hit of amaretto, delicate layers of ladyfingers and plenty of cream. Incredibly light and dangerously moreish. £9.
We had a really fun, enjoyable evening. The vibe is playful, but Cattivo take their pizza seriously. As one national food critic put it, “this might just be the best sourdough in the UK”.
No bookings, just turn up. Dog friendly too.
Bitten were invited as guests, all views are our own
Old Kennels Workshop, The Old Kennels, Cirencester GL7 1UR
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