Sydney's priciest pizza from Rosso Pomodoro truffles your feathers
Rosso Pomodoro owner Ketty Laffi with the pizza al tartufo di Tasmania. Picture: Kristi Miller Source: The Daily TelegraphIT contains speck, truffled egg and Tasmanian truffle - and at a whopping $40, it is almost certainly Sydney's most expensive pizza.
Rosso Pomodoro pizza restaurant at White Bay is offering the truffle special, and at $5 a slice, it certainly won't feature on a Domino's cheaper Tuesday deal.
The pizza could well be the most expensive in the country, pipping Brisbane restaurant Piccolo Pizza's duck foie gras number with veal sausage, mushrooms, mozzarella and truffle oil which sells for $36, or $38 for a gluten-free base.
"We like to work with different seasonal flavours," Rosso Pomodoro's Ketty Laffi said.
"We tried it last year and we got very good feedback. We get the truffle from Tasmania and as it is in season, we are using it."
And expect more truffle on Sydney menus. Fine food purveyor Simon Johnson says prices are being driven down because of greater volumes which are now up to 400kg a year.
"The whole of the east coast is full of truffles," Mr Johnson, who prefers the WA truffle, said. "When you line them all up, the most unique microclimate we have in Australia is Manjimup (300km south of Perth). They are firmer, have more aroma, they really are amazing. A lot of producers are sending their truffles to Asia, which is keeping the prices higher.
"But comparing last year to this year, they just keep coming down.
"Farmers hate me saying this, but I think you are going to find in the next few years truffles will come down to the $500/kg mark."
The $40 pizza is up there with some of this city's most extravagant fast food, including Neil Perry's famous Rockpool wagyu hamburger complete with bacon, gruyere cheese and zuni pickle, which sells for $24.
At Westfield Sydney, Snag Stand has a wagyu sausage in a rustic roll with garlic mash and herbed gravy that will set you back $10.90.
At the other end of the scale, 7-11 stores have a microwaveable pre-packaged Big Bites hotdog for $2.40.
Despite the gloom surrounding the food industry, recent ABS Household Expenditure data shows Australia's love affair with eating out is going strong, with sales for restaurants, cafes and caterers increasing by 13.3 per cent in the past year and turnover reaching $18.7 billion.
Source: Herald Sun, 21 July 2012
