Just Opened: Appizza Darlinghurst by AP Bakery

Appizza is the newest offering from AP Bakery. This pizzeria serves up crispy New Haven style pizzas with just 4 types of toppings. Find out more about what these are and what else there is to order!

It's a Sunday afternoon at 12 o'clock when Mr. NQN and I make our way to Appizza at Taylor Square. The pizzeria is located on the corner of Flinders and Oxford Street at the location where Cafe Freda's used to sit. It's busy and will become increasingly more busy towards lunch time. We grab a table outside as we have Teddy and Milo with us, and promise that after their patience, we will take them to Centennial Park.

Appizza is all about New Haven style pizza from the team at AP Bakery who have teamed up with Cicerone Cucina Romana's Stefano De Caro. New Haven style pizza has a thin, crisp pizza and was created by Italian immigrants in the early 20th century in the New Haven Connecticut area of the US. Here they bake it in an electric oven as huge 22inch pies. 

Ordering and paying is done inside and you take a number and your drinks to the table and the pizzas are delivered to your table. It's easy to choose what to order. There are only four pizzas available: tomato, cheese, salad and pepperoni so decision making is easy, although there is the opportunity to add on mortadella, prosciutto, stracciatella and small anchovies.

There is also the option to order olives, chips with pepperoni, pickles and ranch or a dipping sauce. We go with the recommendation of the Nduja honey and tomato dipping sauce by AP's co owner and Ester owner and chef Mat Lindsay.  I pick up our drinks from the counter and take a seat on the red plastic stolls and lug crate tables. Everything is kind of slanted because the street isn't quite level, so just make sure your drinks and food don't slide off the table depending on where you're sitting.

It's early days, so waits are inevitable. Although turnover is quick, everybody just eats their slice and leaves, so tables frequently become available. I sip my non-alcoholic margarita slushie, while Mr NQN has the spicy version with a pickled chilli and a nice mild heat to it. The straws can't really handle the slushie, but that's what the spoon is for.

Our pizzas arrive all at once. I start with the most basic, the tomato made with crushed Australian and Sardinian tomatoes spread over a thin pizza base with plenty of shaved parm on top. We add some LP's mortadella on top of this just to give it a bit of extra flavour. It is a nice pizza with a thin, crispy crust - the crust around the edge is a little dry and that's what you need the dipping sauce for. The nduja tomato honey dipping sauce has equal parts spicy, rich and sweet and you can really taste each element.

The next slice is my favourite. It is the cheese pizza with mozzarella, stracciatella and parmesan cheese on a tomato base. It has just the right amount of creamy cheese and salty sweet tomato that makes this Mr NQN's favourite too. While margarita pizzas are great they're not usually my number one choice, but this one is it.

The third one is the pepperoni – instead of going for those big pepperoni cups they've got smaller ones here that look perfectly distributed across the slice of pizza. There are dabs of basil pesto as well and a tomato base. This is my second favourite after the cheese pizza as it has so much flavour to it. If you're going to have two slices, have the cheese first and then the pepperoni.

The last one is the salad pizza which is a tomato based pizza with cheese and mesclun salad leaves with Grana Padano on top. We also add some prosciutto to this and if you like the prosciutto and rocket pizza this one is for you. I don't mind that pizza but it's not my first choice. Adding the proscuitto does make it a pricey slice though and you definitely want to fold this over to eat it.

As it is early days, it is best to come early as both days, the pizzeria had sold out by the afternoon although it was supposed to open until 8pm. There is also soft serve available for dessert but as we leave the line to order has become even longer than before so we skip it.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried New Haven style pizza? What is your favourite pizza style: Neapolitan, Roman, Chicago, New Haven, New York, Detroit or another style?

This meal was independently paid for.

Appizza

191-195 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010

Thursday 4–10 pm

Friday & Saturday 12 pm–12 am

Sunday 12–8 pm

Closed Monday to Wednesday