Ealing’s Santa Maria pizza is to take over the restaurant space at the Frontline Club near Paddington station this month as the brand gears up for a major expansion.
Founders Pasquale Chionchio and Angelo Ambrosio opened their first pizzeria in 2010 and have expanded slowly since then, taking 15 years to reach five branches – but that is set to change, they say.
“Recently, we have teamed up with some strong operators, among the best players in the game, who have acquired shares of Santa Maria. That will help us, operationally and financially, to open four to six restaurants per year and launch new concepts. We will keep on working like we have done for the past 15 years: prioritising quality, making the best pizza we can, trying to open in more community-based areas, rather than high streets, and having the same ethical approach of when we started.”
The Frontline Club was founded as a meeting place for international journalists and news photographers, its walls decorated with striking images of global events. Santa Maria’s arrival, on Monday, 24 February, comes two months after the pizza group took over another established dining room, the Glasshouse at Kew.
Santa Maria is the highest-rated multi-site pizzeria in London, according to the 2025 Harden’s guide. Its other branches are in Fitzrovia, Fulham and Islington.
