China-Born Hawker Sells Affordable $7.50 Gnocchi He Names ‘Cheese Potato’ To Make It More Relatable
The chef-turned-hawker serves tasty dishes typically found in Italian restaurants – like lasagna and panna cotta – at great prices in his Toa Payoh stall.
While it’s unusual to find Italian dishes like gnocchi (dumplings usually made from mashed potato and flour), crayfish pasta and panna cotta at a kopitiam stall, what truly sets Il Piccolo Pizzeria, a modest Italian joint tucked away in a bright and spacious Toa Payoh Central coffeeshop apart, is the fact that it’s helmed by a Mandarin-speaking chef from China. He has created an extensive zi char-like menu for his stall, complete with amusing slogans like “Delicious Healthy Food! No MSG!”.
Opened by Hangzhou native and Singapore PR Zhou Zongqing, 57, in 2011, the stall offers a 45-item menu, including classic Italian fare like pizzas, pastas and baked rice dishes – all cooked by the hawker, who runs the stall single-handedly. Consider us impressed.
Zongqing tells 8days.sg that the brand was originally founded by Peter Bontoi, a Romanian chef trained in Italian cuisine. The pair crossed paths in the early 2000s while both were cooking at Denny’s, an American diner franchise that has since exited Singapore.
In 2005, Peter left the chain to start his own Italian hawker venture and recruited Zongqing as his assistant. Under Peter’s guidance, he learned to make pizzas from scratch, as well as different styles of pasta. “I’m still using those recipes today,” he says in Mandarin.
At its peak, Il Piccolo Pizzeria operated five coffeeshop stall branches across the island. However, as business waned, Peter left Singapore and Zongqing took over the reins of their kopitiam stall at SPH News Centre at Toa Payoh North. When the lease ran out in 2011, he relocated to the current address.
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Same menu since the beginning
Asked if the sizable menu is too challenging for a single person to handle, the soft-spoken chef replies matter-of-factly: “I’m used to it. I think it’s important to offer a wide variety of dishes, as different customers prefer different items.”
Zongqing shares that his customers are a mix of residents and office workers – most of them are regulars. He adds that there was “no special reason” for including more atas items like house-made gnocchi, crayfish pasta and panna cotta, which are not commonly found at kopitiam stalls. “These are just items that have been on our menu since the beginning. It’s a hassle to update the menu, so I haven’t made any changes to it,” he quips.
To make these Italian dishes more approachable, the hawker has renamed some of them. For instance, gnocchi is charmingly labelled “Cheese Potato” on his stall’s signboard. “Some of my customers may not have heard of gnocchi before, but they liked the dish after trying it. They usually order it by referring to the dish as ‘potato’,” he shares happily.
His pizzas are baked to order
Impressively, there are 20 pizza options available – possibly the widest range we’ve seen at a hawker stall. With 7-inch pies priced from $8, don’t expect fancy Neapolitan-style pizzas here. Zongqing uses regular flour for his “standard” pizza dough, which is then fermented overnight.
The hawker uses a dough-flattening machine to shape his pizzas. “When I had assistants, we used to stretch the pizzas by hand. However, it’s too time-consuming for me to do it on my own, so I got this machine to help,” he explains. All pies are baked to order in vintage-looking electric ovens that have been with the hawker for over a decade.
Gnocchi Di Patate (Cheese Potato), $7.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)
While not as fluffy and pillowy as some of the better (and pricier) restaurant versions we’ve had, these dumplings handmade with mashed potato, plain flour and parmesan are soft, smooth and a little chewy with an earthy hint from the spuds. Tossed with crunchy asparagus and mushroom in a delicious, velvety cream-spiked tomato sauce, this is a comforting take on gnocchi that we’d gladly order again.
Beef Lasagna, $7.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Elegantly plated and very tasty. Drenched in a creamy and tangy marinara (a classic Italian tomato sauce), the lasagne is studded with minced beef and satisfyingly cheesy, though we found the pasta sheets slightly too soft. The unorthodox addition of fiery house-made peri peri sauce drizzled on top adds balance to the richness. Shiok.
Spaghetti Meatball Pasta, $7.50
A standard plate of pasta, with the highlight being the tender house-made spiced beef balls.
Baked Carnivora Rice, $9.50
Very filling plate with generous toppings including bacon, ham, sausage and pepperoni. The cheesy white sauce is satisfying, though the plain white rice lacked flavour.
Il Piccolo Pizza, $10 for 7-inch
On top of house-made tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, the signature pizza comes with over eight toppings, including pepperoni, bacon, ham, sausage, pineapple and capsicum. The pizza is thin, with a cracker-like crust. While we’d prefer a chewier texture and more char marks, at this price point, we can’t complain. The portion is just right for one person.
Panna Cotta, $3 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Another rare find in a kopitiam setting, and surprisingly good. The house-made panna cotta is smooth and luscious, pairing well with the slightly bitter caramel. Their rustic take on Tiramisu ($3), which is rich and creamy, is worth a try – though we wish there were more espresso-spiked ladyfingers in the serving.
Bottom line
Il Piccolo Pizzeria stands out from other Italian hawker stalls with house-made dishes typically only found in restaurants. We were impressed by the flavourful richness of the gnocchi and lasagna, which were good value for their affordable prices. Definitely try the desserts, especially the smooth panna cotta. Worth a visit if you don’t mind slightly localised Italian fare.
The details
Il Piccolo Pizzeria is at 78C Toa Payoh Central, S313078. Open daily except Wed, 10am to 9pm. Tel: 9152 0571.
Photos: Aik Chen
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