You may have heard about Tutto Vero, a great new pizza place that has just opened in the south Sydney suburb of Oatley.

You’ve probably heard about the soft, springy pizza bases covered in charred scorch marks. The sweet san marzano sauce. The moreish toppings. Yes, it’s tutto vero – “all true”.

The new venue is owned and run by mates Antonio Lupo and Anthony Costa, who went to school together in the area. “We don’t have any hospitality experience, but we’re Italian,” Costa says. “And we’re pizza crazy. I grew up with my grandparents. They would grow their own tomatoes to make passata, they made their own cheese, they even had their own livestock. I used to think food of that calibre was normal.”

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Around eight years ago, the duo brought a Gozney Roccbox and began experimenting in the backyard, constantly refining their dough recipe and trying new flavour combinations. It was when they invented the tutto bene pizza that things got serious.

“The tutto bene is basically the reason why we opened a pizzeria. It’s our best pizza, and that’s why we’ve called it ‘all good’,” Costa says. The primo pizza is topped with a red sauce made from crushed san marzano tomatoes, topped with melted pools of fior de latte, hot salami and a smattering of ’nduja Calabrian salami paste. The warming heat is balanced with wobbly mounds of ricotta and a sweet drizzle of honey.

Just as good is the tutto pachi, a mortazza pizza topped with soft folds of mortadella with lemon zest for freshness, and a shower of pistachio crumbs for crunch. It’s a harmonious blend, hence the name “all calm”. You won’t leave the crusts behind. The puffy outer edge has been folded with ricotta cheese.

“The mortadella pizza kills us. The ricotta crust takes quite a bit longer to make and it slows everything down, but people love it so we’re keeping it on,” Costa says.

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Perhaps the most surprising item on the menu is the ham and pineapple. “We’re not a fan,” he explains. “My wife, who doesn’t even like pizza, kept pushing for it, so it’s on there but we don’t like it. That’s why we called it tutto male, which means ‘all bad’.”

Whatever your feelings about the divisive duo, it’s made here in the traditional way, with double smoked ham and sweet pineapple chunks. “We’re here for the people, so it was important for us to also include what they want as well.”

The white and blue pizza shop has a winning location in Oatley, next to a bus stop and train station, just across the road from the main shops. It’s a casual set-up, with a takeaway window and a scattering of tables and stools outside, where locals can scoff their dinner straight from the box.

To drink, there’s limonata and chinotto. Bring your own wine and they’ll even give you paper cups. For a sweet end to the evening, there’s gelato tubs from Ciccone & Sons and ricotta cannoli. The bubbled pastry shells have been imported from Italy, while the sweet, fragrant filling is made in house.

They’re right. It is tutto vero. Even if you do order the ham and pineapple.

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