Simon Food Favourites: Lucio Pizzeria

19 July 2018

Lucio Pizzeria, Zetland (16 July 2018)

Shop 34, 2-4 Defries Avenue, Zetland NSW 2017
https://www.luciopizzeria.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/luciopizzeria/

Mondays are for Pizza & Wine

The last time I visited Lucio Pizzeria was just over 9 years ago at the Darlinghurst restaurant. Great to see they're still going strong and have expanded. A lazy dinner outing with the kids is good timing with the $25 Pizza & Wine Monday deal which pretty much means we get a glass of wine for free #winning. Orange and apple juice ($4.50) for the young kids served in takeaway cups to guard against clumsy spills. We enjoyed our Salumi - tomato, mozzarella, mild salami, ham, sausage ($25) and Capricciosa - tomato, mozzarella, mushroom, ham, artichoke, olives ($24) both with a lovely light base with bubbly edges. Tasty toppings with rustic presentation. I would have preferred a more spicy salami on the salumi pizza but the mild salami kept it suitable for the kids. For some extra chilli kick be sure to ask for a bottle of chilli oil although I reckon they could take it up a notch of what I tried. Happy choices were made for the wine of Merlot DOC Friuli Grave 2016 ($10) and Montepulciano D'Abruzzo DOC Costantini Line 2011 ($11). The yummy Nutella Pizza ($14) was brought out with compliments of Chef Lucio. Not quite sure how he knew I was there as he wasn't in the kitchen that night but perhaps he was checking the Dimmi bookings — sneaky. The extra calories went down well for dessert which I thought we were going to avoid that night hehe.

21 June 2009

Lucio Pizzeria, Darlinghurst (18 June 2009)

248 Palmer Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Wed–Mon, 6–10 pm, Fully licensed, No BYO, No Booking

Naples style pizza in Sydney

After drinks at the new Pocket Bar a few friends and I were keen for dinner at Phamish but we arrived late to a closing kitchen. Wondering where we could go we noticed Lucio Pizzeria next door and thought pizza might be a safe beat of being OK. Little did we know that the genuine and humble Naples born owner Lucio had been voted No. 1 by TimeOut Sydney for his Naples style pizzas above Dimitri's, Pizza e Birra, Ventuno, Napoli in Bocca, Pizza Mario, La Disfida, Love Supreme, Rosso Pomodoro and Pompei's.

I chose the calamari fritti ($19) which was tender, tasty and cooked to perfection for me although for the price I was hoping they'd be a bit more on the plate to share. The thin soft base pizzas with one or a few different quality toppings reminded me of the pizzas I've eaten in Naples. My favourite tonight was the thin slivers of intense flavoured speck and fontina cheese combined with the delicious mozzarella.

The 2007 Bigi Orvieto Classico Superiore ($32/bottle) from Tuscany was light and refreshing and complimented our meal. Our friendly and professional waiter Frank made us feel very relaxed and welcomed and tempted us to try the chocolate tortina for dessert. Taking 10 minutes to bake it was well worth it and incredibly delicious — I'd definitely have again for it's smooth and rich tasting chocolate. The tiramisu ($10.50) was very good and had the right smoothness and texture but wished it had a bit more of the coffee and alcohol kick in it to make it even more spectacular. I look forward to trying their other pizzas and also the Italian classics of panna cotta and affogato to compare with others I've had.

Do you have a favourite pizza in Sydney?