A pizza restaurant in Bermondsey has been named the best in the country — and it has not served a single customer yet.
Five Feet, on Bermondsey Street, took the top prize at the 2026 National Pizza Awards with a pizza created by its co-founder, weeks before the restaurant is due to open its doors for the first time.
The winning pie, called Sausage and Broccoli, is a Sicilian or Grandma-style pizza topped with vodka sauce, pecorino, oregano, chilli, sausage, fior di latte, provolone, friarelli, pickled chillies, ricotta and coolea.
Co-founder and pizza chef Jack Ellingham said the win had come as a complete surprise. “It was unexpected,” he said. “We obviously wanted to win, but we were not expecting our name to be read out. When it was, it was one of the best feelings of all time.”
“For the business, it’s amazing. We were planning to open before the awards and open off the back of it, with some trading under our belt. But there have been delays, so winning this before opening hopefully drives some people through the doors to experience the space, because it’s looking beautiful.”
Five Feet is a new venture from Jay Patel of Legare and Mr Ellingham, formerly a baker at Dusty Knuckle, with backing from the founder of the WatchHouse coffee brand. It is due to open later this month in the former Dobson’s Bakery building on Bermondsey Street.
The timing could hardly have been better for the new restaurant. With no trading history and no regulars yet, the national title gives it a ready-made reputation on the day it opens, and a reason for pizza lovers from across London to make the trip to Bermondsey Street.
Second place at the awards went to Brigi Stamber of Stretch in Hove, who recently opened her first solo pizzeria after years with Pizzaface. Third place was awarded to Rory Cunningham of Bad Boy Pizza Society, a two-time winner of the National Pizza Awards.
Mr Ellingham also took home the Pizza Chef of the Year title, which is awarded to the winner of the Technical round, where finalists were challenged to create a pizza using products from the awards’ sponsors.
Adam Brown of CIRCO in Newcastle won the Alternative Slice Award, given to the competitor who put together the most delicious and outstanding dish from a range of free-from products.
The Bloggers’ Choice Award was given to Devinder Singh of East West in Tufnell Park for his Indian-inspired Silence of the Lambs pizza.
The final of this year’s awards took place at Big Penny Social in London on 3 November, with a mix of 16 independent and group operators taking part in a live cook-off.
All of this year’s winners will be invited to compete in the National Pizza Awards Champion of Champions cook-off in February, which will mark the 10th anniversary of the competition by bringing together 30 previous winners.
The awards are sponsored by Bestway Wholesale, Conglom International, Cuppone, Euro Food Brands, Eurostar Commodities, Fleet Street Communications, Grandi Molini Italiani, Julienne Bruno, LLK, Properoni, RISE Re:Gen Flour, Roquito, Tabasco and Tork.
Five Feet’s win continues a strong run for south London food and drink, coming in the same week that the capital’s Christmas markets began opening across the city and the East India Arms in the City reopened after refurbishment.
