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Review: That’s amore to DIY pizza at Melt in Windsor, Melbourne

Megan MillerNews Corp Australia

JERRY Seinfeld famously scoffed of his neighbour Kramer’s potential new business venture: “I can’t imagine anyone in any walk of life under any circumstance wanting to make their own pizza pie, but that’s me.”

Dan and Elise Gold, the husband and wife behind Melbourne’s newest pizza place Melt, reckon Jerry was way off the money. They’ve based their first hospitality venture on personalised pizzas, and having started the Mini Melt travelling pizza van, they’ve parked the truck after finding what they reckon is the perfect spot to set up shop.

“Pizza is so personal and everyone’s got an idea of the perfect one,” Dan Gold says. “We’ve been ordering ‘I want this without that or that without this’ for so long, it’s time to go custom. We’ve got a huge amount of competition in Windsor but the demographic we appeal to is young, fun and trendy, which is Chapel St to us.”

The Golds earnt their pizza prowess doing a month-long course at Naples’ Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, the same school where award-winning Brunswick pizza-maker Johnny Di Francesco of 400 Gradi fame, learnt his craft. After days spent kneading and spinning, the couple would consolidate their new-found skills at night with work experience in 85-plus-year-old pizzerias where little English was spoken and pizza was taken super seriously.

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They opened Melt two months ago in the former Pizza Piazza shop, and hope it’s the start of something supreme.

FOOD

Choose from one of eight “classic” pizzas, such as a margherita for $11, or create your own dining destiny. Start with the base (tomato, garlic or pesto for $9) and go down the line choosing your proteins ($3 each, and $6 for Queensland prawns), cheese ($2 each) and veggies ($1 each). Get a rev of fresh chilli, garlic oil, wild oregano or fresh basil for nix.

Go sparse like the customer who just added only free-range chicken to her base or the guy who loaded up on ingredients to create a $34 extravaganza. Got a penchant for anchovies? Go crazy with those hairy, salty babies. Reckon a pizza isn’t a pizza unless it’s got pineapple on it? Knock yourself out. No judgment here.

After ordering and paying, you’re given a table number and food is brought to you. Cutlery sits on the tables, with sharp knives (hooray!) and serviettes.

My custom (Italian sausage plus spinach plus pineapple plus mushrooms plus eggplant plus mozzarella on a tomato base) was a winning combo, natch.

The crust is chewy yet delicate, its lightness from the fact the dough, made each morning, contains no salt, sugar, oil or fat. Each 11-inch pizza gets two minutes in the oven, stoked to 400C with long-burning ironbark, and spun several times for even cooking and perfect charring.

The dough balls ($5) are further testament to the quality of the dough, with the eight bite-sized balls of toothsome goodness with garlic butter a fun take on traditional garlic bread.

Toppings are top notch and local. The mozzarella is made at a small farm in Donnybrook, ham, beef and chicken is free range, and the prosciutto is from San Daniele.

Crispy wood-fired sandwiches called panuozzos are a great takeaway for those on the run, while the two salads — rocket and parmesan, and the quinoa-laced superfoods — come in two sizes.

The sole dessert option is gelato from 7 Apples ($4 a scoop).

DRINKS

A small but well-rounded selection of Aussie wines is available by the glass ($8-$10) or bottle ($33-$40), while pizza’s best friend — beer — comes in four kinds: Peroni or Menabrea from Italy or local liquids, Melbourne Bitter or Kwencher Pale Ale. You’ll also find Monteith’s Apple Cider from New Zealand ($9) and soft drinks from Capi ($4).

There’s no coffee but Melt is happy for customers to get a takeaway caffeine fix from Dukes next door.

SERVICE

While dinner service from 6pm-9pm is jumping, the lunch trade is still building. Busy times reveal Melt to be largely the well-oiled machine it needs to be for the system not to descend into chaos. But visit during a quieter weekend lunch and you’ll probably strike up a conversation with the affable Golds or one of their staff.

Online ordering is on the horizon.

X-FACTOR

Funky fitout from South Melbourne creatives Can I Play, with the terracotta-covered pizza oven the focus of the 65-seater. Perch at a stool inside, under a heater on the footpath, in the private dining room for 10 or in the back courtyard made bright by custom-made posters. Dried chilli, salamis and garlic hang from the counter for a touch of old school.

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

A “classic” here doesn’t set you back more than $16, whereas other artisan pizza joints around town — Ladro, I Carusi, La Svolta, et al — charge $5-$10 more (granted you are given a more thorough dine-in experience at these places). Go DIY at Melt and control the cost depending on how frugal or flamboyant you are with toppings.

VERDICT

A novelty act that backs up the schtick with a good, authentic product. Yes, Melbourne does great pizza, but making them fast, fun and unique makes all the difference. Take that, Jerry!

MELT

171 Chapel St, Windsor

pH: 1300 116 358

FOOD

Pizza

HOURS

Lunch and dinner daily

BOOKINGS

Only for tables of six or more

TABLE FOR TWO@7.30PM?

Go for it. Table turnover is swift

TIME BETWEEN ORDERING AND EATING

Five minutes

PERFECT FOR

Quick bites with mates and dates

DESTINATION DISH

Whatever you deem to be the perfect pie

NOISE FACTOR

Lively

ONLINE

melt.com.au

REVIEW BY

Megan Miller

PICTURES

Nicole Cleary

REVIEWS ARE UNANNOUNCED AND PAID FOR BY WEEKEND. RESTAURANTS ARE NOT REVIEWED IN THE FIRST MONTH OF OPENING

PIZZA OBSESSED: Man survives on pizza for 25 years

megan.miller@news.com.au

Originally published as That’s amore to DIY pie