Famed NYC Pizzeria Roberta’s, Said To Be Beyoncé’s Fave, Opening S’pore Outlet

Roberta’s is a well-known name in the US - the artfully gritty Brooklyn institution serves up what many New York foodies say is the best pizza in the city, cooked in gigantic wood-fired ovens. It specialises in unpretentious Neapolitan pies, which are characterised by their thin crust base and puffy, chewy cornicione (the ‘edge’ of the pizza). Oh, and Beyoncé and Jay-Z have been spotted on a date night there.

Roberta’s is coming to Singapore

The pizzeria has outlets in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Nashville. And by the first quarter of 2022, it will open its first Asia outpost in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands, next to celeb chef Daniel Boulud’s db Bistro & Oyster Bar.

The menu

According to a Roberta’s rep, the 50-seat restaurant will serve “the brand’s entire pizza and salad menu with all the favourites from Roberta’s”. (The US branches also have homely pasta dishes and baked goods - fingers crossed that it will be offered here too.)

Signature pie favourites include the Bee Sting (topped with honey, chilli oil and soppressata, an Italian dry-cured pork salami), Famous Original (with tomato, mozzarella, parmigiano and gourd-shaped caciocavallo cheese), White Guy (mozzarella, ricotta, parmigiano and garlic) and the divine-sounding Cheesus Christ.

There will be a wood-fired oven installed

An Italy-imported wood-fired oven - the same kind used at all of Roberta’s outlets - will be installed at its MBS restaurant. Its kitchen team, with some Singaporean chefs, trained with Roberta’s chef-owner Carlo Mirarchi in Los Angeles, while the rep says the “core Singapore management have trained in Brooklyn under [co-owner] Brandon [Hoy's] guidance in preparation for the opening”. Brandon and Carlo, ”alongside other core staff from the US”, will also be flying into Singapore to oversee the opening.

Roberta’s Singapore opens circa Q1 2022 at B1 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Photos: Roberta’s, Yip Jieying