There was a time last year when if you rolled up to Poor Toms Gin Hall in Marrickville on a Sunday arvo, you’d find two guys out the front manning a pair of flaming, UFO-shaped Gozney ovens, out of which cheesy, blistered, restaurant-level pizzas would slide every few minutes. People would eat those pizzas, while drinking nice gin cocktails and listening to good tunes in the sunshine.
Those two men were Ben Fester and Drew Huston (ex-Dimitri’s). Their portable pizza party was Oltra Disc.
When Central Station’s new shopping, dining and cultural hub Eddy came calling last year, it was a rare chance to stretch out those Sunday soirees – and open a fully fledged pizzeria at an iconic Sydney spot.
We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.
SIGN UP“We couldn’t really turn it down,” says Fester. “We were hoping to do something with Poor Toms in the future – we started the pop-up there and we were like, ‘Should we just do this thing together?’ That’s kind of how City Oltra was born.”
After a soft launch in December, City Oltra feels like a slice of Marrickville in the city – thanks in part to the recent installation of two chunky hi-fi speakers, custom built by Sydney audio collective Translate Sound for maximum aural pleasure.
Now, when you jump off the train at Central, you can get all the things that make Oltra Disc great – but way more of them.
There are those classic round pizzas, which are bigger than average at 16” and more American than Italian. “They’re not-quite-New York-y,” says Fester. “It’s a bit of a hybrid recipe. We’ve tried to pick some of the best things from all styles and make our own kind.”
The bestseller is the Rancho Relaxo – a pepperoni pizza “but a bit naughtier” – loaded with custom-made pepperoni by Hunter Valley specialty butcher Hungerford Meat Co. “We make a ranch sauce in-house, and it gets a big spiral vortex on top. You get super spicy pepperoni and then cool ranch. It’s a nice combo.”
Then there are chunky square pies, which land somewhere between Detroit-style and a grandma pie, and can be made gluten-free. A super-hydrated dough rested for 48 hours to create that thick, cheesy crust and crunchy bottom. Hits include a spiced potato pie with house fennel-sausage mix, and a green number with a symphony of broccoli, zucchini, lemon, chilli and herbs.
For sides, choose plates of cold cuts (by Hungerford Meats Co and LP's Quality Meats), salads (green beans with bacon, pine nuts and almonds, or peach, tomato and buffalo mozzarella), and – if you ask for it – “forbidden garlic bread”: “It’s not on the menu but we just put one anchovy on each piece of the garlic bread. Like a salty little bomb,” says Fester.
City Oltra does a couple of things many pizzerias of this calibre don’t. For one, you can grab single slices to eat in or take away. It’s also serving three sandwiches for lunch – two meat and one veg – including a riff on Perth’s famous continental roll loaded with cold cuts, artichoke, peppers, iceberg lettuce and ranch sauce.
And not only can you customise your pizza with a raft of add-ons, you can also order half-and-half. “A pizza can pretty easily feed two people with some little sides and stuff. So you’ve got the opportunity to order one pizza with two flavours, sit down with a friend and have a Grifter beer or some Poor Toms cocktails.”
As well as growing the bar's list of local and natural winemakers, there are plans to run a monthly Sunday session with DJs à la Oltra Disc, plus lunch-time specials. But while City Oltra is here for a good time, it might not be a long one.
Fester says Transport NSW has leased the space for 12 months, with the option of two three-month extensions – “but that makes it kinda good for us, because it means we’re just going to get in there and try to have as much fun as possible. The whole idea is to make a place where we’d like to go and hang out at.”
If a vibey pizza bar riffing on a classic train-station canteen is where you’d want to hang out too, look for the glowing red neon sign. City Oltra awaits.
City Oltra
Shop 11/11 Eddy Ave, Haymarket
Hours
Wed 5pm–10pm
Thurs to Sat 12pm–10pm
Cafes
Restaurants
Bars
Accommodation
Shop
Broadsheet Pick
Recently Opened