After the slowest of slow-motion takes the casual dining chain, Pizza Express, finally succumbed to a CVA today (19 August). We in the NTI newsroom consider the chain to be the most upmarket of Italian-style chains to have hit the slitte (skids) (and, yes, the Italians did invent the pizza, specifically Raffaele Esposito from Naples grabbed the credit, despite the fact that many of his fellow Neopolitans - distinguished by being oddly stripey in brown, lemon and pink - sold flatbreads covered with toppings well before Raffaele claimed the prize).