APPLECROSS Village – a sleepy hollow for the mega-rich where botox rubs shoulders with designer handbags, cryptocurrency and the whiff of Chanel No 5.
The little cabal of high-end shops, restaurants and cafes on Ardross St is very pleasant, but it’s like God’s waiting room staged by Versace, and badly needed an injection of youthful hubris.
Thankfully that has been provided by Canteen Pizza.
Originally a pop-up and then a full-blown restaurant in Cottesloe, the Neapolitan pizzeria relocated to Applecross’s ‘Golden Triangle’ in December last year.
It’s a stylish eatery with the floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors transforming the interior into an illuminated artwork at night.
There’s also a cool alfresco with market umbrellas and leafy trees providing shelter from the elements.
When we visited on Wednesday night the place was pumping with a mix of older and younger folk hanging out in the alfresco, enjoying drinks and food and the unseasonably hot Autumn weather.
There was a lively buzz with the music and ambient lighting creating a nice vibe.
More importantly, Canteen Pizza is open seven days a week from 7am to 9:30pm, breathing life into the Village morning, noon and night (it can be dead early in the week with hardly any places open after 4pm).
The food was roughly divided into breakfast, mains and dessert.
The main menu was mostly rossa/bianca pizza and antipasti, plus a select range of fish and porchetta.
There was some interesting dishes including the Rottnest swordfish schnitzel, poached shark bay king prawns, nduja pizza, beef tartare, salumi and porchetta panini.
The breakfast menu was interesting too and you could get a pizzetta, made from a special ‘biga’ dough, with various toppings including salmon and spinach.
Our plans to dine-in were scuppered at the eleventh hour when my young son became sick, so we actioned plan-B and got take-out instead (my wife and I have eaten there before as civilians and it was very pleasant with good, attentive service).
We kicked off with the black lentils ($18) from the antipasti menu. Sounds boring, but this hot dish had a delicious mix of roasted pumpkin, spicy corn, pepitas, vino cotto and ricotta salata.
The lentils were cooked to perfection with just the right firmness, and the dollop of melted ricotta gave the dish a luxurious, velvety twist.
If you’re a vegetarian it could be a meal on its own, but for me it was the ideal light entree to get the tastebuds fired up for the main event.
My wife “Special K” and I decided to share the tradizionale porchetta ($32 for two).
It was great value with a huge mound of thinly cut southern cross pork loin and two large pieces of crackling.
The tender pork was spot on and had a lovely rich flavour with traces of fennel and garlic.
It tasted amazing when combined with the pan jus and anchovy nduja sauce, while the crackling added some texture.
The chargrilled Brussels sprouts weren’t overcooked and had lovely gnarly bits.
To accompany the pork, we got a side of twice-cooked chat potatoes ($14) which had a satisfying crunch and hints of rosemary and pecorino. A delicious dish.
Across the table, my young kids were sharing a margherita pizza ($22) which was cooked neapolitan-style in a wood-fired oven and made from pizza dough which had naturally risen for 48 hours.
I’ve seen bigger pizzas, but they wolfed it down in no time and said it was “delicious” (some of our left-over potatoes got them over the finish line).
Our dine-in and takeaway experience at Canteen Pizza were both great and it has breathed new life into Applecross Village.
Canteen Pizza
32 Ardross Street, Applecross
canteen.pizza
by STEPHEN POLLOCK