Vacca Bianca, Clark Rd, North Sydney

Vacca Bianca, Clark Rd, North Sydney

Friday 18 May, 2007

Lazar's occupied this corner site for many years. I remember going past in the bus around Christmas time and it looked like the signage had changed overnight. It's now known as Vacca Biana - an Italian restaurant offering indoor/ outdoor seating. They kept the look and feel of Lazar's but added a wood fire pizza oven and gelateria.

Tonight, I stopped by on my way home to check it out. There was a decent crowd in the restaurant and a few locals standing around the wood fired pizza oven waiting for takeaway. I decided to chat to the pizza maker to see what the all the fuss was about. Italian born with a gorgeous accent my friendly pizza maker walked me through his favourites:

- Dodici: prosciutto, rocket and Parmesan

- Nove: mushrooms, ham and Gorgonzola

- Quattro: Gorgonzola, pecorino, feta and Parmesan

He did all this whilst kneading 3 pizza bases and expertly layering simple, fresh ingredients on top before gliding them onto the pizza tray and sliding them into the hot oven. I watched in awe. Despite, the recommendations I opted for the Quattordici which was topped with prosciutto, salami, chilli, ham, bacon and Gorgonzola.

After a few minutes in the wood fired oven the pizza was presented in a white cardboard box. My new favourite pizza maker sent me on my way with a cheeky grin and a warm goodbye.

The verdict on my pizza? The thin pizza was perfect and had bubbled around the edges which gave it a mild smokey flavour. The toppings were sparse and a little too salty for my liking. I know....with toppings like prosciutto, bacon and Gorgonzola what did I expect?

Would I return? Absolutely. Next time I will try one of the friendly pizza maker's suggestions.

Vacca Biana - 62 Clark Rd, North Sydney - (02) 9955 9711