It’s safe to say that Carlton probably doesn’t need another pizzeria. Which is just as well, because just like everything Melbourne hospitality power duo Ronni Di Stasio and Mallory Wall do, you had to know their latest joint would be way more than just what it says on the packet. Or in this case, pizza box.

Di Stasio Pizzeria marks the duo’s third offering to the city, after their original St Kilda bar and restaurant and city outpost, Citta, and like its two older siblings, the family resemblance is strong. The duo’s DNA is one that has become synonymous with the city; a proprietary blend of sharp modernist art-fuelled sleekery meets attentive, white-jacketed Italian service and classico cuisine.

Gravel crunches underfoot as you amble down a walkway that opens into a courtyard complete with fountain. It feels like you could be in Any Village, Italy … a simple but effective transportive device offsetting the cool, concrete-dominant interior of the restaurant. Inside, paper table toppers are begging to be scribbled on, as are the box check style menus. Mallory wants to know do you tick or cross … and what does it say about you? But from the brass sculpture of Di Stasio’s invoking hands in bullhorn gesture, to the in-your-face works of Reko Rennie, perhaps the more pertinent question is what does this place want you to feel?

The double-sided menu (pizza and friends on one side, pasta and mates on the other) is a choose your own adventure of uncomplicated Italo classics, executed with detailed precision and purity of intent. Sure, you could just stop in for pizza é vino, but you get the feeling that’s not where this place excels.

Snacks are never a bad idea, and there are plenty of salty, crunchy goods to accompany a thinking Aperol Spritz while deciding what to order. Crunchy eggplant chips sound friendly but a better idea is to do as the menu suggests and try the trippa fritta. Not as a food flex, but because in the words of an accompanying offal sceptic, they’re “simply unhateable”. Tender slivers of braised tripe are encased in a shattering fried batter, salted, and simply served with lemon.

Fans of carb layering should consider at least sharing an entree pasta. There’s a neat set of options from guanciale rich carbonara to a summery spaghetti vongole; the latter a toothsome tangle of noodles bound with olive oil, clams and their juice, chilli, and a deft hand.

Pizzas are split into five red sauce and five white pillowy crusted, thin-based, uncluttered Neapolitan style slices that run the gamut from Margherita and capricciosa to the slightly less humble lobster with lardo and fior di latte.

In fact, you’ll notice fior di latte in more than a few places because it’s made in-house by head chef Federico Congiu with local jersey milk and it’s so very good. Whether it’s bouncy and stretchy on a pizza, the zing of its whey dressing silky slivers of kingfish crudo and crunchy fried capers or imbuing the unmissable salted soft serve gelato with the milkiest of milkiness, this menu certainly has a friend in cheeses.

The woodfire oven lends smoke, char, and crust to more than just pizza. Crystalline prawns emerge from the embers atop chickpeas both in velvety puree and crispy fried form, garnished with a single sweet, smoky chilli. To put out the fire, the wine list is molto Di Stasio, which is to say premium, Italian-focused and perfectly geared for a session with pals.

A huge part of the charm of Carlton is its eternal Italian commitment to good food, good wine, and good times and in that regard, Di Stasio is no different. What sets this place apart is a clear and confident sense of identity and an unapologetic expression of culture with a top-tier swagger all its own.

Related restaurant review: Big Esso brings Torres Strait Island fare to Federation Square