First Look: The King & Godfree Building Reawakens With Garfield Pizzeria

After 18 months of quiet, the King & Godfree building comes back to life on Friday when Jamie Valmorbida opens Garfield Pizzeria. 

It’s the first of three new venues he’s opening at the Carlton institution this year. And while the pizza shop is taking up residence in the heart of Lygon Street, one of the biggest influences here is not Italy but Japan, which has become a globally recognised pizza destination.

“They approach pizza with a deep respect for traditional technique, but no fear around unexpected flavour combinations,” Valmorbida says of the Japanese way. “What also strikes me is the precision and care applied even in very casual settings. That approach shaped Garfield.”

To nail the concept, Valmorbida and culinary director Karen Martini (Bar Carolina, Johnny’s Green Room) embarked on a research trip to Tokyo, during which Martini says they tried 18 pizzas in three days.

The trip’s influence filters through from bases to toppings. Italy gets a look in, however, in dough made with 100 per cent Italian wheat flour from Casillo, which is  fermented for 72 hours and turned into a base using the Tokyo stretch method. Stretching, as opposed to slapping or tossing dough (typical of the Neapolitan style) creates ripples that allow the crust to char and develop more texture when the pizzas are cooked low and slow in the Marana rotating woodfired oven. There are four white-base pizzas and four with a red-base, and each is served as a 23-centimetre pie. 

“A lot of deep reflection has gone into the pizza because  I’m such a purist at heart,” says Martini. Arguably, the most experimental pizza she, head pizzaiolo Sangsub Ha (ex-Middle Park Hotel head chef) and executive chef Mark Glenn (ex-Cumulus head chef, ex-Dinner by Heston) have on offer is the Tokyo Bonito. It’s built on a bechamel base infused with katsuobushi (dried bonito) and layered with house-fermented sweet chilli sauce, baked, then draped with raw tuna. Finally, it’s finished with finger lime, extra-virgin olive oil, shiso and a bit of ash for smokiness. “The tuna gets marinated on top of the pizza,” Martini says. “I advise eating it as soon as it hits the table” to avoid the tuna cooking, she adds.

There are more familiar toppings too, though each comes with a twist. The Hawaiano, for example, uses pineapple that’s been lacto-fermented then roasted, barbeque sauce made in-house with seasonal fruit (currently plums), and mortadella in place of the usual ham.

While not named for Jim Davis’s lasagne-loving cartoon cat character, the team still nods to Garfield with a lasagne-inspired bechamel pizza. Dotted with meatballs made using beef and pork sausage from Donati’s Fine Meats, which Valmorbida recently acquired, it’s topped with red sauce and finished with shards of parmesan meant to reference crisp lasagne edges.

Beyond the pizza menu, eggplant chips are served on a bed of labneh and lightly fried calamari is dressed with lime and chilli salsa, finger lime and Sichuan pepper salt. A fougasse-style garlic bread, made with pizza dough, is basted in brown butter. 

A yoghurt soft serve, made in collaboration with Lisa Valmorbida’s next-door gelateria Pidapipo (brother Jamie is a co-owner), is topped with a chocolate Pocky stick and a praline made with peanut, cashew and Sichuan pepper. A lemon Biscoff cheesecake sums up the restaurant’s ethos, drawing inspiration from both classic Italian tiramisu and the viral two-ingredient Japanese cheesecake. 

Natural wine and Italian-leaning cocktails such as Aperol spritzes are on tap, alongside a fridge stocked with bottles available to drink in or take away. Cocktails can be ordered to-go, thanks to the venue retaining a heritage licence that permits takeaway alcohol.

The space, designed by longtime Valmorbida collaborator Dion Hall (Supernormal, Johnny’s Green Room), evokes mid-century Italy with a custom letterboard menu displaying the top hits. Service is casual; order at the counter or via QR code, and sit at a communal table or stools lining the windows and bar.

Those stools have a legacy of their own, made using reclaimed timber from the beams of the former Agostino cellar – the cellar set to be reimagined as a late-night cocktail and music bar as part of King & Godfree’s next chapter.

Garfield Pizzeria
297 Lygon Street, Carlton

Hours:
Tue to Sun 4pm–late

garfieldpizzeria.com
@garfield_pizzeria