Spitfire Pizza is Stefan Geou’s passion project. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Stefan Geou’s childhood was spent rolling pizza dough at his Dad’s restaurant. But it wasn’t until pandemic lockdowns that he really caught the pizza bug. His passion project, Spitfire Pizza, has popped up at Fyshwick’s Dairy Road precinct, selling New York-style pizza by the slice.
Stefan worked as a chef for many years at Canberra venues like (the departed) Muse in Kingston, but his love for pizza began at home in 2020.
“I bought a big electric pizza oven and just started making a lot of pizza at home,” he told Region.
“I was making pizza every week!”
Post-COVID-19, he took a turn at a local pizza restaurant to see if he wanted to commit to life as a full-time pizzaiolo and then took the leap with Spitfire Pizza.
The menu at Spitfire is intentionally minimal to focus on delivering impeccable quality. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
This iteration of Spitfire is really a test case: the set-up consists of a couple of ovens, benches and a wire rack all set up under marquees. He’s got an indoor space which he’s currently using for storage, but he’s hoping to have local wineries in residence to complement his pizzas.
“It’s just a three-month lease, so it’s a nice experiment, but who knows where it will go?”
He’s hoping to move into a permanent space at Dairy Road or elsewhere.
Stefan blends five different Australian flours and ferments his dough for up to three days. He’s serving his pizzas by the slice, a style he says is a rarity in the Canberra scene, and a niche he’s hoping to fill.
All pizzas are made from scratch by Stefan using a long-fermented dough. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The menu at Spitfire is deliberately simple. Stefan doesn’t believe in big menus. They create too much food waste, and it’s difficult to keep everything fresh. He offers four styles of New York-style pizza, characterised by a thin, crispy, 18-inch base.
While Margherita is a compulsory offering, Stefan takes the classic one step further, using a mix of cheeses for the topping.
“I’m blending the cheeses because I’m trying to hit a particular nostalgic flavour from my childhood,” he said.
“My Dad owned a restaurant which served pizza, so I grew up around it.”
To honour his Greek heritage, Stefan also serves a spanikopita pizza garnished with dill and a wedge of lemon. It’s a cross-cultural delight – cheesy, but also refreshingly zingy.
In addition to thin, crispy, New York-style slices, Stefan also makes a ripper deep-dish pizza. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Mushroom with caramelised onion and cream cheese on a buttermilk base is another favourite vegetarian option. For meat lovers, there is a pepperoni pizza, which Stefan also makes as a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, complete with house-made hot honey and a dollop of creamy stracciatella.
He’s planning for cooler weather by adding an extra- walled gazebo with heaters to accommodate customers.
A slice of pizza costs less than a tenner (if you’re particularly hungry, get two), and he can also offer whole pizzas with notice. It’s fast, cheap, absolutely delicious and all made from scratch, by hand, by Stefan himself.
Spitfire Pizza is located at 1 Dairy Road, outside, close to Barrio – follow your nose and look for the gazebo. Spitfire’s open Thursday to Saturday for lunch and dinner, 11 am to 1:30 pm, and 4:30 pm to 7 pm. But Stefan says if customers are waiting, he’ll just keep on making more pizza, so opening hours may vary. Follow Spitfire Pizza on Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
