Long before the recent opening of his home-town restaurant in Peterborough, Peter Boizot started the first PizzaExpress in London, 1965. However his first taste of pizza was in 1948 whilst in Northern Italy. From there, he found himself in Germany where he witnessed pizzaiolos dressed in blue and white striped shirts tossing the dough high into the air. This was accompanied by opera, classical and jazz music all played off a juke machine.

On returning to London and finding no good pizzas, Peter invested in a Signora Notaro oven from Italy, got an exclusive deal with London's only mozzarella maker, Margaret Zampi and took over her ailing pizza shop, PizzaExpress. Soon a second restaurant was opened and the beginnings of PizzaExpress started.