Tom Hampson of Impasto Pizza at Stratford’s Phoenix pub enters cook-off against top Italian chefs in the European Pizza Show in London from today

A FORMER telecoms engineer from Welford is going against some of the top pie-makers in the world next week in a hotly contested cook-off to become European pizza chef of the year.

If Tom Hampson wins the competition taking place during the European Pizza Show at London Olympia next Tuesday and Wednesday (26th to 27th November), he says “it would mean the world to me, just to have that recognition”.

Like so many people, Tom upped his baking game during Covid, creating the perfect sourdough in his parent’s Welford kitchen.

But as lockdown waned Tom’s obsession grew and he now has his own business, Impasto Pizza – and occupies the kitchen of the Phoenix pub on Guild Street, Stratford, as well as offering pop-up catering services.

The Phoenix is buzzing with early Saturday evening diners and drinkers when the Herald met with Tom, 35, and his mum, Catherine Walne-Pennington, who helps run Impasto, to talk – and sample – all things pizza.

Proud mum Catherine explains the early days of Impasto: “So many families needed help during lockdown – they couldn’t pay their bills or they couldn’t get hold of fresh bread. So Tom started baking sourdough and delivering it to families for free.”

She continues: “People loved it, and a French family asked if he could make pizza, and so he did.”

These weren’t just ordinary pizzas – but delicious Naples-inspired creations that saw demand quickly escalate – with people booking a timeslot for their pizza delivery times.

With a reputation for exquisite bread and pizza fuelled by word of mouth and myriad delectable-looking images filling Tom’s Instagram (impastomicropizzeriauk), the need for a permanent base with a bigger kitchen saw Impasto make the move into the Phoenix six months ago.

Now diners come from as far as London and Birmingham just for a taste of Impasto’s pizzas.

Like any pizza connoisseur knows, it all starts with the dough.

“It’s been a passion and a hobby for about five years now,” says Tom. “It took about three years to get the dough how I wanted it to. At the start I couldn’t quite get the dough right for pizza so I started with bread. When I managed to get the aesthetics of the crust how I wanted it, that’s when I began with pizza.”

Quitting his job with BT has meant Tom could do his research in earnest.

He regularly travels to source ingredients from Naples and has built relationships with top pizza chefs over there, who gave him the fond nickname ‘Roast Beef’.

“I’ve studied everything that I can see and watch. And sort of randomly made a few acquaintances with the best pizza chefs in the world,” says Tom.

“Ours are traditionally Neapolitan but with a contemporary style. This includes a higher hydrated dough, so more water, with a puffy crust just to show the structure, and is at once soft and crunchy.”

Tom prides himself on using the best ingredients. As the Herald samples a margherita, he points at the authentic Italian buffalo mozzarella and the passata made from tomatoes grown in the foothills of Vesuvius.

“This isn’t stuff that you are going to find in your everyday pizzeria. And I think that's what sets us apart from others,” adds Catherine. “Customers say now they have had our pizzas they will never go back to frozen.”

As the competition looms, Tom says he is nervous but will “pull out all the stops”.

He was encouraged to enter by an Italian supplier, and says he’s always been welcomed in the industry and not encountered any prejudice. “Apparently there were 5,000 applications for the competition, and it’s been whittled down to 40 – of which I’m one.

“I’ve not done too badly for an English bloke that works in a pub,” adds Tom with a grin.

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