Apizza, ever heard of it? Pizza is no doubt a fixture of your lexicon (and, if you’re like us, your diet). Those in the know pronounce it as ‘abeets’, and can wax lyrical about not only the word’s origins, but the style of pizza it refers to. Raffaele Persichetti, owner of Mama Taco (as well as other dearly missed West End greats like Holloway Restaurant, Luigi’s Italian and Mario’s), sums it up for us. “Apizza’s a pretty loose term used in Italy and the States,” says Raff. “A lot of people use it in the western world because of the New Haven, Connecticut evolution from Roman and Neapolitan pizza. So it’s really known there as ‘abeets’, but in Napoli and Sicily they say it as well.” But what’s up with the stray ‘a’ at the beginning? It’s not a typo – more the remnant of a dialect preserved from the days of mass Italian immigration to America’s east coast. When it comes to pizza, Raff knows his stuff. Nearly every year the restaurateur makes a pilgrimage back to Rome where he was born, mixing family time with ventures out into the streets in search of the best pizza spots in the city. This unadulterated love of the slice drives West Side Pizza, the new intimate eatery and bar Raff opened last week on the corner of Vulture Street and Hardgrave Road in West End. The genesis of West Side Pizza is similar to that of Mama Taco, which Raff launched when he couldn’t find the kind of Mexican cuisine they wanted in Brisbane. Unable to source pizza that boasted the same robust taste as the options he devoured in Italy and America, Raff decided to make his own. Here he’s adopting New Haven’s apizza methodology and traditional Napoli-style techniques, applying some fine-dining touches to create a product that he hopes will be regarded as good as the flavour-packed pies he’d consume overseas. “There’s a depth of flavour – it’s the same with pastries – there’s a depth that’s deep into the dough,” Raff says, reminiscing. “When you bite it, it’s dimensional – it’s not a shallow flavour. It’s more of an experience, a body sensation. That’s what we wanted – we wanted pizza like our friends have it.”

West Side Pizza sits inside a slender sliver of the building previously home to Sol Breads, next to similarly fresh-faced sandwich and coffee joint The Twin (and a few doors down from soon-to-open vino joint Bar Francine). Inspired by the hole-in-the-wall pizzerias of Italy, the venue is intentionally cosy, with some window bench seating inside and a clutch of tables on the footpath bringing the total capacity to around 18. Decoration is minimal, save for an eye-catching lightbox mandala of foraged chanterelles by Belly of the World Mushrooms and artist Emma Anna, and a splash of red paint behind the bar and service counter. Though small, West Side Pizza’s atmosphere is electric and perfect for informal drinks and snacks, intimate dinners and takeaway custom.

As the name attests, the main attraction of West Side Pizza is, well, pizza. Any pizzaiolo worth their salt will tell you that a pizza is only as good as the dough it’s made with, so it’s worth noting that Raff and Harry aren’t messing around. “It’s a mixture of organic Italian flours with a lot of wheat germ in them, mixed with some Australian natural flours and some European mixes as well,” says Raff of West Side Pizza’s dough ingredients. “They all come together with our mother culure to make a nice complex dough that we ferment between two and seven days.” The team is shaping its dough by hand (you’ll see no tossing of dough discs here, just skilful kneading), resulting in a pizza that is charmingly oblong and irregular, and a boasts a bubblier, crispier crust when cooked. To maximise speed and versatility, the kitchen is equipped with both a woodfire oven and an electric oven. Quality local produce sourced from the likes of Thai Hoa, Loop Growers, Neighbourhood Farm and Falls Farm feature as toppings alongside Italian parmesan and Australian mozzarella. Despite its small kitchen size, West Side’s menu of pizzas is extensive – tallying 20 options encompassing onion and anchovy breads, familiar classics, and inventive options. Opt for a tried-and-true margherita or pepperoni pizza, or go wild with the likes of the Lulu (Napoli sauce, hot salami, porcini and shiitake mushrooms, chilli honey, parmesan and mozzarella), the Mario (rose, truffle, bresaola, mayo, parmesan, mozz, pepper, radicchio, capers and balsamic), or the ultra-luxe lobster calzone (Thermidor sauce, Armagnac, lobster, mustard, mozz, parmesan and fontina). Pizza isn’t all that’s on the menu – West Side also specialises in fist-sized arancini filled with the likes of pea and speck, and porcini mushroom, available alongside eggplant parmigiana and a seasonal salad. Gelato is also a specialty, with an imported Cattabriga gelato machine churning out a range of unique and nostalgia-inducing flavours made from authentic ingredients – we’re talking burnt sourdough, dark chocolate and grapefruit, pecan, walnut and maple, campfire marshmallow, and mango lemon sorbet. Behind the bar, West Side Pizza boasts a tight wine list featuring drops from the likes of Dilworth & Allain, MDI and Defialy, 14 cocktails ranging from spritzes to white negronis, and an array of spirits including a solid representation of amari and grappa.

West Side Pizza is now open to the public for dine-in and takeaway. Tap on over to the Stumble Guide for operating hours.