A pizza and pasta takeaway in Tooting is passionate about putting quality before revenue.

Simone Stanziano is a one-man-band running the authentic Italian takeaway Appetito Pizza and Pasta.

The operation began three months ago in the heart of lockdown.

The takeaway currently operates out of Trident Business Centre where Simone creates almost everything on his menu from scratch.

In an industry that is all about the fastest delivery time, Appetito revels in the fact that some of his prep can take up to twelve hours.

Simone said: "My food is precious. I would rather feed twenty customers top quality food than churn out one hundred sub-par meals."

"My bolognese sauce for example takes six hour to cook slowly. Only when that is done I can use it to make other things. Like the lasagna - that will be made from scratch too."

"Everything takes a long time to prepare and I never want to change that. It's all about quality over quantity."

There is only two items out of the forty two item menu that are not home made.

Simone continued: "I've clearly labelled the two items that aren't home made.

"As long as I am honest, customers who order it know they will not be getting the food directly from my hands."

The time it takes to make food in takeaway establishments equates to how high they are on some lists in the Deliveroo and Just Eat app/website.

This is a small price to pay for Simone, who says that his customer base is mostly built from word of mouth.

Simone grew up in Napoli and discovered his love of cooking from a young age.

"I saw my mum cooking all of the time, she would feed so many people at a time. It just stuck with me," Simone told Nub News.

Many of the menu items are named after a story in Simone's life.

The 'Diego' is named after Simone's son and his favourite pizza - mozzarella, Italian sausage and skin on fries.

"It's a great one for children," Simone added.

The 'Napoli' is of course named after Simone's hometown and is his favourite pizza - Fior di latte mozzarella, Italian sausage, aubergines, etc.

According to Simone, he once had a customer come back to him and say that he was serving his food too cheap.

"They told me that they'd be happy to pay more," Simone told us.

"I know my product and I don't want to overcharge anything. I really believe I am giving people reasonable prices for great quality food.

"That is rare at the moment."

You can find out more about Appetito by visiting their website HERE.

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