Pizzaiolo Enrico Sgarbossa can’t wipe the smile that’s plastered across his face as he greets diners at his 20-seat pizzeria in Lobethal, a 45-minute drive from Adelaide’s CBD.
The Italian is unashamedly obsessed with dough and the electric, solar-powered pizza oven that allows him to achieve the ultimate crisp, airy cornicione. Back in Italy, he worked as a flour technician for Molino Dalla Giovanna flour mill and after arriving in Australia in 2010, opened Pizza al Taglio in Sydney’s Surry Hills. South Australia has been home for the past four years, during which he’s forged relationships with local organic and biodynamic wine producers. Many, like Ngeringa and Angove, are peppered across the menu. Until a South Australian grower produces enough of the right tomatoes to tick Sgarbossa’s perfectionist flavour boxes, it’s all about Gustarosso organic tomatoes from Italy. Other produce is sourced from the likes of Lobethal’s Scarfo Organics, Rio Vista Olives in the Adelaide Hills, local free-range chooks, and Fleurieu Milk Company.
At $55 per person, the “feed me” option showcases snacks, pasta, pizza and dessert and is hard to beat value-wise. Benvenuto arrives in the form of antipasto misto; Sgarbossa’s house-made, zero-waste sourdough bread (a marvel made using pizza dough scraps) with Marino Meats salumi and an assortment of La Vera cheeses.
Sgarbossa’s Japanese wife Akiha works the room like a ray of sunshine, explaining the pizza base landscape to come. There’s classic (light and fluffy), thin and crispy (Roman-style) made with sustainably farmed Italian grain, and her husband’s signature double-cooked dough; a 24-hour multigrain sourdough base, par-baked and finished in the oven. The result is airy and cloud-like with ciabatta-style crunch. The wizardry is topped with burrata, folds of prosciutto di Parma, and tomato dust.
Gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options are available but if meat is your thing, don’t go past the lasagne pizza with rich Bolognese and nutmeg-nuanced béchamel.
Akiha’s tiramisù and homemade mascarpone is fast becoming as popular as the pizza. She also sewed the team’s stylish aprons and applied her design know-how to the space. The rustic building was formerly a bank, and food-themed paintings by local artist Emma Neill add to the charm. The goal was to create a space where people will become a circle of friends. It’s early days but this already feels like a Hills institution in the making.
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