Cal’s Own, Jesmond

In a previous incarnation, we’d been to Cal’s Own, but so far we’d not tried Cal’s Own, Jesmond. When in Heaton it was simply a great pizza place. Simple pizzas and a bring your own booze setup. I remember this for three reasons. Firstly it was Abigail’s Birthday and we had two giant pizzas, served to the table on a special double decker display thing. Secondly, there were a lack of knives and forks and we were informed that the correct way to eat pizza was with you hands. Third and finally, Catherine had brought a bottle of rose wine she’d won in a raffle. It was from an English vineyard and was disgusting. It was that bad she nipped over to the spa and bought anything!

That was then though and this is now.

Cal’s Own, Jesmond

It was the night of the Newcastle Eagles Basketball game and we we’re looking for somewhere different to eat. As it was early January, we knew there was no need to book anywhere. We literally walked in off the street.

The interior is fresh and arty with an abstract flooring pattern. The tables have knives and forks set out. They also have a drinks menu now, which is eclectically selected. We were all trying for a dry January, so selected various versions of coke. The girls chose Fentiman’s cherry coke, while we chose a standard diet coke. By the time the drinks arrived, the flooring was starting to bug me a little. It was the design. Where had I seen it before?

We ordered our pizzas, which are cooked fresh to order. So I will add in that if your in a rush, this isn’t a fast pizza restaurant.  The authentic nature of the obsession with ingredients, means that each pizza is made to perfection. This also means that you have plenty of time to chat, drink, swap drinks because your kids realise they don’t like cherry coke as much as they like the idea of it. But also to go and visit the mighty wood fired pizza Oven.

Cal’s Own Pizza Oven

The wood fired pizza oven was custom made in Napoli and is visible in the heart of the open kitchen. Every time a pizza was added we were hoping it was ours. Eventually we asked if we could have a look at the oven. So walked over to the kitchen counter and saw the pizza’s being cooked, then carefully toasted nearer the flames. It was an impressive piece of kit and equally impressive that the whole restaurant wasn’t cooking with the 500 degree oven in the back.

As I walked back I worked the flooring out. The flooring looks like it was reclaimed wooden flooring from an old sports hall or school gym. The Sports court markings have all been jumbled up as it was re cut and re laid. Now that my mind was at ease I would relax into the pizzas.

Cal’s Own Pizza

They are smaller than before! We sort of assumed the previous 18″ pizzas would be the same. We did feel a little on the tight side only ordering two between four, when they were only 11″.

The kids went plain with a margarita pizza, while we opted for a little bit spicy. With a maximum of 3 toppings, Smoked Pancetta, Chicken, Chilli and Garlic.

The side portion of chips helped pad it out.

In all honesty, it was enough to satisfy us. We were full, but not stuffed. The kids were happy, we were happy and we’d been to try Cal’s Own out, since the move. The unique selling point is that the pizza’s are authentic Neapolitan pizzas. I really do like the obsessiveness of the attention to detail here. Imported ingredients to ensure it hits the mark.  We’d been to a place at Disney that used to import it’s water to make the dough, as it was as close to the water they could get from Napoli. So it’s 10 out of 10 for going the extra mile.

I’ll stick my neck out and say that it is one of the best pizza’s I’ve had locally in a long time. The Pizza base is slightly chewy and not crispy and this comes with personal preference. My other top favourite is pizzastorm, but that’s for a crispy base.

Visit Cal’s Own’s website here.