First Look: The Ormeggio Team Pulls Off the Restaurant-Within-Restaurant Move With a Harbourside Pizzeria

When I heard A’Mare’s loft dining space was destined to become a pizzeria, I had doubts. It’s tricky to pull off a restaurant within a restaurant, even more so to execute one that feels distinct – not just a tag-along to the original. But the Pavonis have more than managed it with Pizza’Mare.

Take a right as you enter the Crown’s pasta-focused fine diner, and take the stairs up. There are walls of wine and a host waiting to seat you in a bright dining room – free from any hints that A’Mare’s diners are just below you.

“People forget, but in the mezzanine, the views are outstanding,” Alessandro says. “Actually, I think better, you know – much better. The pizza will drag the people [here].”

Those water views are bolstered by a bright fit-out by Luchetti Krelle: statement sun-yellow walls adorned with bright prints in primary colours. The atmosphere is closer to the holiday-charged vibes we know from the couple’s Cibaria, in Manly and Noosa, with a casually geared menu to match.

This was actually one of the Pavonis’ main motivators. “Super casual dining is more attractive at the moment,” Alessandro says. “[And for a] long time, I’ve wanted to do a pizza place. In Cibaria we do pizza rossa, pizza bianca, we have the right dough. I really wanted to do more pizza, but interesting, you know. Cool ingredients. And I love to eat it, everybody loves it.”

A Mam pizza oven has travelled from Modena especially to fire Neapolitan-style rounds, developed by pizzaiolo Paolo Lacarpia and executive chef Giuseppe Fuzio (ex-Ormeggio, Chiosco, Cibaria). They’re both pizza experts, with years of experience between them in both Italy and Sydney. There are multiple pizzaiolos in the kitchen, but Lacarpia’s only job is managing the dough – “the most important part,” says Alessandro.

That dough is slowly pre-fermented with a biga starter, using Italian flour, resulting in light, fluffy, crunchy rounds. The menu is mostly classics, with some creative plays – “otherwise we get bored”.

Saucy margheritas and lemony mortadella rounds join a diavola carrying spicy salami and one studded with prawns, yellow tomatoes and zucchini flowers. The macadamia one’s a winner, though – a surprise because it’s cheese-less.

Macadamias are toasted then soaked in water for 24 hours, before being whizzed into a cream. The nuts are a sweet addition to the base, with meaty Cantabrian anchovies adding the salt. Preserved lemon and cherry tomatoes bring the zing. What to order becomes a tough decision when you’re faced with the signature Amar’inara, where tuna crudo (yellow or bluefin, depending on what’s best that day) joins stracciatella, sweet cherry tomatoes and lemon zest. Another delivers Wagyu carpaccio, which hits the pizza post-bake – so it gets slightly cooked as it’s travelling to your table.

There are classic pastas too, plus snacks and a dessert menu that wins with excellent gelato and a tiramisu pizza. Downstairs, the Pavonis’ revamp has continued. A’Mare’s vibe is moodier, with cosier seating and large-scale striped pendant lights. The bar is now its own offering too: Vista’Mare, a spritz and cicchetti spot.

Pizza’mare officially opens on Wednesday April 22, and the team has more outposts planned. But until then, this is the place to come. “The ingredients are ready, the oven is hot, let’s go.”

Pizza’Mare
Inside A’Mare, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo
02 5566 0887

Hours:
Mon to Thu midday–2.30pm, 5.30pm–9pm
Fri & Sat midday–2.30pm, 5.30pm–9.30pm
Sun midday–2.30pm, 5.30pm–9pm

crownsydney.com.au/pizzamare
@pizzamare.sydney