The other week we visited Stowmarket for the first time. It’s not really somewhere that’s been on our list of top places to visit, in all honesty. The boy had a birthday party to go to at the town’s soft play, though. We decided to head over early and grab a bite to eat.
I’d seen posts by Italian café Passione D’Amore on Instagram and it looked ideal. Located in Old Fox Yard at the end of Stowmarket high street, it’s a charming place. You’ll find a few seats downstairs, some outdoor seating and a large room upstairs where we sat.
The main reason I wanted to visit was to try their teglia Romana. I’d never heard of it before: a type of pizza cooked in a baking tray and served up in slices. It’s a real labour of love, as the owners explained. The dough has 80% hydration and is fermented for 72 hours before baking, and the results are incredible.
Passione D’Amore serve up their teglia in three different ways: sliced with toppings, as sandwiches, and alongside burrata salads. We tried two different topped varieties.
The baked dough itself was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Thick and chewy while unusually light at the same time, it’s hard to describe the flavour and texture accurately.
The Teglia Classica Potato (£6.95), topped with potato and paprika, featured the thinnest slices of potato. Some soft and tender, some crispy around the edges, the combination of textures and the saltiness of the topping were beautiful.
We also tried the Teglia Classica Salsiccia (£7.95), which is the same incredible base topped with salty Italian sausage, cooked peppers, onion and fragrant rosemary, with the base holding up well against the generous toppings.
The small child ate nibbles of our teglia (his favourite was the potato/paprika concoction). We couldn’t sway him from sweet to savoury for his choice once he’d seen the gelato menu, though. Passione D’Amore offers four regular flavours (pistachio/stracciatella/vanilla/hazelnut) and three vegan options (blood orange/lemon/vanilla). He chose one scoop of stracciatella, costing around £3 (plus extra for his waffle basket). Drizzled with chocolate sauce, it was a generous scoop – and from the small mouthful I was allowed, tasted like decent-quality gelato.
At 3 for £6.60, we decided it would be rude not to try the mini Italian pastries we could see behind the counter. Of the six varieties, we went for the lemon and pistachio cannoncini and the chocolate cannoli. While the team don’t make these in-house in Stowmarket (they buy them from a supplier in London), I definitely recommend trying them alongside one of Passione’s delicious coffees.
If you happen to be in Stowmarket and need somewhere to stop for breakfast, lunch or a drink and snack, Passione D’Amore should definitely be on your list. With a friendly team, delicious food and an offering that’s different to the norm, we’ll certainly be heading back for another teglia fix.