Pizza

by Samir Talwar

Wednesday, 16 April 2025 at 23:15 CEST

I really enjoy pizza.

I was talking to a colleague earlier today about running a multi-day workshop, internal to the company. And I found myself explaining how food works in full-day workshops.

You see, when you want people to participate in an event like this, it helps to provide food. You don’t want people wandering off to find something halfway through the day. They might not come back for an hour or two, or perhaps they’ll not come back at all.

So you provide beverages, and lunch. And there’s a few rules you have to follow when providing lunch.

First of all, make sure you have something for everyone. Vegan, intolerant to dairy, allergic to gluten, whatever. Don’t starve one person; it looks really bad.

Secondly, no pizza. Never, ever pizza.

Pizza is anathema to good work. I’m not sure exactly why, but the combination of bread, cheese, and layers upon layers of oil (especially when manufactured in a factory-esque pizzeria, complete with conveyor belt electric oven) is all but guaranteed to put you to sleep. There isn’t enough coffee and Club Mate on the planet to wake someone up from a pizza stupor.

Pizza is how you get a hard-working, motivated, excited person to shut down for the entire afternoon.

In a different city, in a different decade

Several years ago, when I still lived in London, I was talking to an Italian colleague. She loved (and probably still loves) Italian food, but she was able to keep herself fit and healthy. So I asked her: “How do you do it? How do you eat pizza for lunch, stay healthy, and stay awake?”

She probably didn’t have her hands on her hips as she replied, but she does in my memory. And I’ll never forget her reply: “Samir, pizza is for Saturday night when you have no plans on Sunday.”

Pizza isn’t for lunch.

Now, I’ve worked with Italians who have broken this rule, but I get the feeling it’s rare (except for the Neapolitans).

And I understand why this is a sensible rule.

With age comes wisdom, sometimes

I love pizza very much. I love the taste, the feeling, and I even enjoy the stupor afterwards.

But considering my conversation today, and my conversation many years ago… I might hesitate before ordering the next one.