Page 18 - foodservice - June 2018

TRADE
18
TRADE TALK
TALK
FATTO BAR & CANTINA WITH JAMES KUMMROW
“Pizza is the perfect food,” says James Kummrow. “It can be eaten casually on the run, or dressed up to be served in a restaurant. If someone tells me they don’t have a ‘pizza night’ allocated in your family, I don’t believe them.”
As head pizza aficionado (and chef) of casual, Italian eatery, Fatto Bar & Cantina, on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road, his priority has been to dish out creations with “easily identifiable, Italian flavours” and “a chewy, blistered crust”.
To do that, he trialled seven different flours before settling onCaputoflourfromItaly. “I
would prefer to purchase
locally,” he says, “but nothing compares. The stretch and strength of a well
fermented dough with this flour is a joy to work with.”
Teaming his choice of flour with twin electric Moretti iDeck
ovens with stone bases, Kummrow and the rest of
the Fatto team have been able to create an array of pizzas, including mushroom and roquette, potato and taleggio, broccoli and chilli, and ‘nduja and marjoram.
The most popular pizza, however, is the Margherita,
out selling all others. Kummrow says, “My four-year-old twins are connoisseurs of pizza, and have given it the tick also. I think that’s why we sell so many, because it’s a really approachable and recognisable flavours regardless of who you are.”
For Kummrow, his favourite is ‘The Fatto’. “It’s our house speciality,”hesays,“andpeople keep returning for it. It has a San Marzano tomato base, smoked mozzarella, ‘nduja, and finished with fresh marjoram, Grana Padano and olive oil. When I told one of my staunch, Italian suppliers that I was going to start serving pizza, he said, ‘Whatever
GET A PIZZA THIS
IN PIZZA WE CRUST. ANITA CONNORS TALKS TO THREE CHEFS AND RESTAURATEURS ABOUT WHAT CREATIONS THEIR VENUES ARE CURRENTLY DISHING OUT AND THE LATEST TRENDS.