The only common ground between Guy Grossi’s new pizza pocket joint, (pronounced “pet-so”) and the McCain 90s microwave version is the silhouette. Grossi’s pockets, made with a 48-hour fermented dough, were a bit of an accident birthed at their salumi and wine bar, Ombra.
“One day, we had some leftover dough, so we were just baking it off to use, and we found that it hollowed out inside when we baked it,” tells Loredana Grossi, Guy’s daughter. “So we cut it in half and found out that by doing that, we had this pizza pocket that was made with this beautiful 48-hour fermented dough that basically made itself by hollowing out in the middle.”
You can expect all the regular Italian trimmings at the fast-casual Flinders Lane eatery: the pezzo come stuffed with homemade polpette (meatballs), tomato sauce and provolone; crumbed veal with slaw; a vegetarian eggplant parmigiana; calamari, zucchini and white sauce; or porchetta, crackle, sauerkraut and mustard. The fillings are brawny enough to fill a dinner plate, but the dough is light and airy with a crisp shell.
The oroginal pezzo: polpette, tomato and provolone. Source: Pezzo
Pizza pockets may be a western TV dinner construct but they do have some footing in Italian street food, Loredana says.
“There is a street food in Rome where they do stuffed pizza dough – it’s a bit different; they bake it more like a focaccia dough and then they cut it and stuff it, but it’s still got a traditional link to that Roman stuffed pizza.”
The pockets are the dawcard at Pezzo but there’s plenty of snacks and sides to go with, plus a range of ice-cream sandwiches in traditional Italian flavours; think espresso, pistachio and zabaglione. There’s also a frozen version of the Grossi family’s famous tiramisu.
Calamari, zucchini and white sauce pezzo Source: Pezzo
Pezzo are offering their own selection of wines in either 250ml or 50ml bottles, beer on tap, and a new range of Capi aperitivi: gin and tonic, lemon Collins and pink grapefruit shiraz come in fun single-serve bottles.
The space is fun and bright with nods to old world Italy via a series of striking graphic works. Take your pezzo to go or stay for a bevvy and bite - it's easy, breezy here.
Pezzo is the Grossi family's first foray into the fast-casual market. Source: Pezzo
88 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
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