Fried to order, which is why they take ten minutes
Rice Balls (Arancini)
Saffron risotto rolled around a cube of mozzarella and a spoon of meat ragù, crumbed and fried to order.
These are the one thing in the shop that is fried, in a small pan rather than a fryer, and they are fried when you order them. That is a ten-minute wait and it is not negotiable — a rice ball that has been sitting is a heavy, greasy, disappointing object, and there is no way to hold one that does not make it worse.
The rice is a saffron risotto cooked the day before and left to firm up overnight; warm risotto cannot be rolled. Inside each one is a cube of mozzarella and a spoon of the same meat ragù that goes into the lasagne, so it melts into a molten centre while the shell fries.
They come out extremely hot and they stay extremely hot. Give them two minutes.
What goes on it
The rice
Saffron risotto, cooked the day before and chilled overnight so it can be shaped.
The centre
A cube of whole-milk mozzarella and a spoon of meat ragù.
The crumb
Flour, egg and fine breadcrumb, in that order, rolled twice for a thicker shell.
The sauce
A small dish of the pizza sauce, warm, on the side.
How it is made here
Risotto cooked ahead
The day before. It has to be cold and firm or it will not hold a shape.
Rolled each morning
By hand, around the cheese and ragù, then crumbed and held raw in the cold room.
Fried to order
Six or seven minutes in a pan, turned. This is the wait.
Rested two minutes
The centre is molten cheese. It needs the two minutes and so do you.
Rice Balls (Arancini) — what it costs
- Two$8
- Four$15
Prices include every topping listed above. Extras are $3 for vegetables and $4 for meats. Prices change when our costs do; the menu here is the menu in the shop.
Before you order this
A shared flour kitchen, and what that rules out. Our kitchen handles wheat flour in open air all day, along with milk, eggs, soy, tree nuts and fish. Flour becomes airborne every time a dough ball is opened, and it settles on every surface in the room, including the peels, the oven floor, the cutting board and the wheel. We can tell you what we put on a pizza, and we will tell you honestly. We cannot tell you that anything leaving this kitchen is free of an allergen, and we will not say it. If a reaction would send you to hospital, this is not a safe kitchen for you, and we would far rather say so than take the order.
The kitchen is one room. Every pizza here is opened on the same bench, baked on the same floor and cut with the same wheel, and that is true of this one as much as any other. The pages on allergens and cross-contact and vegetarian, vegan and dietary questions set out plainly what we can and cannot tell you, including the things most shops leave you to assume.
The rest of the menu
Other things worth ordering
Heroes & Subs
Seeded rolls baked here each morning, filled to order — the Italian combination, chicken parm, meatball, or aubergine.
From $12
Baked Pasta
Baked ziti and lasagne from the same sauce as the pizzas, finished under the mozzarella in a small steel pan.
From $15
Salads
A chopped Italian salad with an oregano vinaigrette, and a caprese when the tomatoes are worth it — which is not all year, and we will say so.
From $12Asked at the counter
Rice Balls (Arancini) — questions
Why do they take so long?
Because they are fried when you order them. Anything faster than that means they were fried earlier, and a rice ball that has been standing is a much worse thing.
Is there a vegetarian one?
Yes — mozzarella and roasted vegetable, no ragù, same price. It is worth telephoning ahead as we roll fewer of them.
Do they contain gluten?
Yes, the crumb is wheat breadcrumb. There is no version of this we can make without it.
Twelve to fifteen minutes, and worth the wait
Order a pie
Telephone the shop and we will tell you honestly how long the kitchen is running before you commit to anything. Collection is always quicker than delivery and the pizza is always better for it. If you are ordering for a crowd, the catering page has the trays and the notice we need.