Peperoncino — Restaurant in Amsterdam

Che buono! What a hidden gem... doesn't look like much in the photos but if you want an authentic Italian experience in a quirky but charming atmosphere, this place is for you 😁 The restaurant seats only 2 tables which makes it feel very homely - like eating with nonno! The food was literally some of the best Italian I've had outside of Italy and the bottle of wine we shared on the owner's recommendation was 10/10! The pastas were al dente and tasted so fresh and the calzone was huge, delicious, and cooked to perfection! Especially recommend the funghi e tartufo.

Not only that, but my fiancè and I are studying Italian and spoke to the owner in extremely broken Italian all evening. He was so kind, patient, and friendly! We cannot recommend highly enough 🥰

I noticed that some other reviews flag that the owner seems a bit standoffish, but he was honestly so warm and welcoming it's hard for me to imagine the service issues noted by other patrons were much more than a language barrier - he doesn't speak much English or Dutch.

Grazie mille per piatti perfetti, vino buonissimo, e per...

We visited this store for the first time today. We didn’t do anything wrong. While we were browsing and deciding on a purchase, the Italian shop owner suddenly yelled at us for no reason. His behavior was extremely rude! It was so uncomfortable that we decided to leave immediately. We will never go to this store again!

UPDATE based on the shop owner response:

Okay, sir. Based on your response, I assume you would like me to share our experience in more detail. We spent no more than five minutes in your store. First, you told us that we couldn’t touch anything. We respected that. Despite your unwelcoming attitude from the start, my friend and I were genuinely trying to make a purchase. Each of us planned to buy several items. Then, you approached us again, being even ruder than before. At that point, my friend decided she no longer wanted to stay, and we both left. If you believe this is the right way to treat customers, then good luck with...

We would see the chef of Peperoncino toss the pizza dough, as we looked at the bustle of the Maasstraat from the window of the apartment of a good friend. Tonight we felt like a pizza and went in and ordered. We had a back and forth in part Italian, English and Dutch, and the chef pointed out the ‘cipolla’ and tuna of our pizza of choice - they sell the ingredients, imported from Italy, as well. Then he proceeded to make our pizza on the spot. We sat down on a little bench. The sounds of an Italian kids program came through from a back room. After a few minutes we brought a wonderfully crisp and fresh pizza home - one of the best I tasted. We...