Bella Brutta is the long-anticipated venture into pizza from a group of Sydney hospitality favourites. The teams behind LP’s Quality Meats and Porteño have joined forces for a strikingly more casual eating space, a pizzeria in the heart of Newtown. The venue has just opened its doors and is already proving a formidable new addition to the Sydney Italian scene.

As reported earlier, Bella Brutta literally means ‘beautiful ugly’, which is exactly the kind of pizzas that co-owner Luke Powell (of LP’s) likes to eat. “I like my pizza quite charred, with lots of character, and a bit burnt up,” he explains of the name. “They’re always a little misshapen. And the pizza here is going to be a bit of a mashup of what we each like to eat.”

It’s good. “Here the blistered dough is thin, charred, smoky and lighter than your traditional Neapolitan pizzas, and it’s beautifully seasoned so barely needs topping. The tomato sauce is rich in umami joy, and never more so than when freighting large rounds of chef Luke Powell’s pepperoni and a sprinkling of fennel seeds for good measure. All the pies are given but a brief flash in the giant red pizza oven that came direct from Emilia-Romagna,” says delicious. national reviewer Anthony Huckstep.

Huckstep has already declared Bella Brutta to be home to the best pizza in the city. His suggestions? Make your way to the bar, nab yourself a gin and tonic with house-made limoncello, and don’t forget to order a plethora of a small dishes. As for pizza, make sure you make the moset of the pie topped with Cloudy Bay clams.

Huckstep suggests you make your way to the bar for a seat, a nine-metre stretch on which you can sip on cocktails and nibble on pizza to your heart’s content. But that’s not all – the ample space has allocated areas for table seating inside, as well as outside in the back courtyard.

There’s already expansion in the works, at least when it comes to the menu. All going well, Powell and co hope to introduce a bigger array of charcuterie options for diners, as well as meat-based mains. “There’s a lot more we could do with the space once we get comfortable,” Powell said.

Bella Brutta will be open seven days a week from 5.00pm, and will serve lunch on Saturday and Sundays from 12.00pm. Bella Brutta, 135 King Street, Newtown.