Vegan pizza? Okay, I’m in 🙋♀️🤩
I’m pretty sure that Lorenzo is one of those people that as a child, would be playing in his play dough kitchen and would stare at the empty space in front of him, thinking... how to fill that emptiness! 👌 Yes, he’s that type of person that looks at this world and thinks: what can I create that will make EVERYONE happy?
So, in 2016 he and his pal Roberto opened their humble pizzeria Shop225, in the one and only Pascoe Vale area. Honestly I don’t think the area would be more appropriate because every time I visit it, I always ALWAYS know I will have a great cosy and wholesome meal.
I had seen them in expos and other places, but to be honest, the line had always been WAAAAAY too long 😂 why? Because they are bloody amazing! 👏 yes, it’s been in my bucket list for ages, and finally I decided to visit their place and try their vegan pizza 🤩
And not just pizza! They have vegan arancini! Vegan lasagna and gnocchi! Vegan Nutella! Basically the whole menu is or has a vegan option! 👏🤩
And while the dough takes 72-hours to get ready, and you might need to wait a little while in line, OH MAN, IT IS WORTH IT 👏 an absolute pleasure!
The venue is slightly far from the city centre but like I said DEFINITELY WORTH IT. Let’s not be lazy and support the businesses that have fought so much to get to where they are now. They are so kind and into hospitality and costumer care that they even create menu items with bloggers. And that says something! Not every place would be 1-loved so much by us bloggers and ‘good’ enough so we would want to create a menu item for them and 2-be willing to work with ‘costumers’ and let them create something that they represent.
The thing is that, it works. And it makes everyone happy. And they are amazing just for that, not to mention the amazing AMAZING quality and interesting food 👌
The venue was packed and again that only reinforces my thoughts and opinion about these people. They have an outdoor area with some heaters, an inside main area, completely full and filled with movement and agitation characteristics of Italians 😂 as it should be for sure! And then next to it there’s a massive oven with their logo. There’s also a way to the back through what it seems a little laneway, leading to a more private dining area, with tables that are extremely colourful and with the characteristic European ‘azulejo’. The tiles! There are a couple of light above that are and it would be someone where I picture a couple going out for sure and have an incredible time.
When it comes to the food, I seriously wanted to try a couple of things but at the same time bed respectfully for the busy times so here’s what we ended up having:
- Calamaro Piccante - my friend had this meal and basically wasn’t what he expected! We thought that by the name, it would be some calamari like in most venues, crops and crumbly, with some sauces on the side. But no! It was actually one single large calamari filled with breadcrumbs, ‘nduja and potato, served with a cherry tomatoes and olive sauce. My friend said the spiciness to it was just right and absolutely perfect. I thought the size and portion was very adequate too and it came with a nice looking sourdough bread.
- Vegan Arancini - OMG OMG OMG. An absolute must. This is the traditional sicilian rice ball made vegan and to be honest I don’t really know what ingredients there were insane but WOW. Of course there is the rice but it seemed to be something like sticky rice? And then a sauce of mushrooms maybe and the cheese and WOW WOW WOW 🤩 not only are the ball sizes amazing but the actual taste is outstanding! This is actually one of their most popular meals and I completely understand why. I could eat a million of these. And a million more. It’s definitely a must try indeed. And wait, there’s more! It actually comes with a blue dip that is absolutely terrific. I asked what was in it and it’s actually a blend that even has vinaigrette in it which you would expect to have a more acidic touch but not at all! Absolutely nailed it - it’s a 11/10!
- The Miri - I had one of the special pizzas made by a blogger of course! And one I absolutely admire and although I have yet to met her in person, I truly respect her and her work 🙏 she is absolutely fantastic and she has created a winner pizza too for these guys! I wouldn’t expect anything else to be honest and I’m even surprised with some of the ingredients used but it definitely reflects her personally and what I think she represents in person. The pizza has flor di latte, some cute little cherry tomatoes that match very nicely with THE BEST vegan salame. This was actually my first time having vegan salami and I am a total fan. I am actually not a lover of salami and I tend to avoid it due to being an animal product but I remember the taste when I have tried it in the past and I know I didn’t particularly like it. But this? OH MAAAAAAN 👌 it also comes with friarelli, chilli pistacchio pesto and truffle oil and the pesto in there is just to die for. As it is the vegan cheese. Portion size, these guys are absolutely generous and my friend could only even eat half a pizza (he took away the other half ☺️)! I would not get tired of this, ever and I cannot recommend it more. It is special edition so it will only be available for a few weeks/time, so if you’re reading this, I encourage everyone to pop by and try it for themselves! It is A BLAST!
One final note for the dough - terrific! In all pizzas that were coming out, I could see that they do pay a lot of attention to this and the fact that the dough rests for 72h before being cooked slows it to become more digestible and easier on the gut. Actually Lorenzo explained to us the whole story why they did it and how it helped with his wife’s gut issues 🙏 and you can also see how personalised and loved each pizza is because they make it such those iconic and undoubtedly Italian style, with their hands on and imperfect in circle shape but absolutely perfect in being imperfect 👌 I don’t think I could love a pizza more 😂
- Il Dottore - my friend had this pizza and it wasn’t vegan, as they also have ‘normal’ ones 😂 but I’m sure it can be made vegan because as I’ve mentioned almost everything can be turned into a plant based option! With pomodoro, fior di latte and home-made calabrian sausage, italian porcini and parsley not only does it look similar to a margarita, the classic Italian pizza, but it looks like that with a tiiiiiiiny special touch 👌 of course. He loved it and even though he couldn’t finish it, since the size is indeed relatively large (what can I say, I’m a big eater 😂) he said it was perfect!
- Vegan Nutella Pizza - to finish off the meal, I couldn’t leave without trying the famous nutella pizza. I had heard waaaaaaay too much about it and it sure makes justice to it. The dough is slightly thicker than the savoury and main pizzas and I think it makes sense since you want it to be a little more consistent for the vegan nutella be nicely spread over it. The pizza is quite simple itself and with that 72h dough base, they spread with a large pencil the vegan nutella. On top you can have the option of strawberries and some sugar icing or pistachio. Since I wanted to try the pistachio spread (because looooooooove) but at the same time wanted a little crunch to it, we added the spread and the strawberries 😂 can I get a truck of these? 😍😂 I was also told that Lorenzo sells the spread to other pizzas as they have the best and one of the only vegan nutella version available around the area. Next time, I’m sure to stock up on a little jar indeed!
As a final note, I just want to reinforce again that basically everything in this place can be made vegan upon request, and they have all alternatives that you could ever think of. The cheese that it is used is dairy free (their local brand is called localcraft for all of their products) and the meat components are also plant based. Because they literally make their own nutella too and if you want you can take it home with you too in little pots that they have for sale. Their pizzas can also be made gluten free and all of their gluten free menu options are Accredited by Coeliac Australia and they have many checks in order to minimise any risk of cross contamination.
Make sure you visit them ASAP and ask for the Miri because that thing is NEXT LEVEL INDEED 👌🤭 this place has so much love and care that I will definitely visit again and is on my top favourites 🤗 A MUST!
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