THE PINSA
A New Food Discovery Here In St. Kilda
https://www.pinsabella.com/home
Ever get flabbergasted and amazed at the synchronicities that occur while you walk this earth?
Well, I do.
I do not consider myself lucky or special. It happens all the time.
We just have to turn our heads a certain way.
Speaking of turning heads, have you seen The Menu? Ralph Fiennes and his head turn is downright creepy. The movie is now one of my favourite films. Briefly, it is about a chef and his exclusive restaurant located on a remote island. Chef Slowick invites several special guests to partake in a meal arranged just for them.
No spoilers, just give it a whirl. Tina and I watched it last Friday and we could not stop talking about it. Foodie or film fanatic you can’t lose.
Saturday evening, we decided we wanted to have pizza. It was my craving.
Zanini in St. Kilda East has some of the best pizzas in the southern regions of Melbourne. Tina came to me wanting to try another place. I looked at the pictures online and they looked nothing like a pizza. They were sort of oval looking but the pictures on Uber looked intriguing.
“Sure, let’s be adventurous,” I said.
It was approaching 8:30 PM and this joint was closing soon. Took a few minutes to make our selections and we called up to order. Tina was speaking to someone on the phone and had requested one of the items and asked, “Can I get anchovies on that?”
The phone cut out.
Tina said it sounded busy there and we decided to try and order online. We worked that out but before we hit submit it told us our order would be ready at 5:15 PM the next day.
Now we wondered if we had been hung up on because of the late time we had called.
We turned to our local Zanini and enjoyed our pizza.
But I had been mistaken about the first place we tried to order pizza from. It was not Pizza it was PINSA.
What the hell is a pinsa?
We decided to find out on Saturday and wander up to 100 St. Kilda Road to investigate what was going down in Pinsa-Land otherwise known as Pinsabella. Last night the background sounds on the phone sounded as if the place was packed. Tonight, just before 6 PM when we entered the cozy environs of Pinsabella we were the only people in attendance.
Greeting us was Carmine Constantini, the chef/owner, who wanted to preach to us the beauty delicacy, and mouthwatering goodness that is a pinsa. We cracked a beer each and we began a conversation. We learned about the types of wheat and process that were involved in the creation. Not everything was revealed as Carmine wanted our tastebuds to be the judge and for questions to follow.
Our first pinsa was I believe a rabe and gorgonzola beauty that was fluffy, crisp, and bloody yummy. Unlike pizza where you can only eat a few slices, I was ready for pinsa 2 as soon as possible. I was far from stuffed and had a severe case of the munchies.
Carmine pontificated on the belief that the ingredients on his pinsa were not to be messed with. This was a man enthusiastic about the food he served.
I laughed and mentioned the Soup Nazi bit on Seinfeld.
The exponential increase in consuming Pinsa started just over 7 years ago (2017), nowadays there are more than 5000 Pinserie all over the world, and thousands of customers are aware of the features and peculiarities this product has.
Who knew??
Pinsa 2 took some time as Carmine joined us and we sat and delved deep into his life, our lives, and stories that you don’t usually sit around and talk to someone running a restaurant. This was after-hours talk when you are locked in.
Carmine went to construct pinsa # 2, The Diavola. This was the one Tina had asked about adding anchovies to the night before when we called. Maybe he did hang up on us?
Pinsa 2 was just as amazing as Pinsa 1 and with a shrug and look away he brought Tina a plate with some anchovies. Tina began to eat, and the anchovies remained untouched. Carmine was 100% correct.
Simply, Carmine is interested in high-quality ingredients and simplicity in what he creates and it is on display here.
We kept talking and 6 PM turned to 8 PM.
It was as if the three of us had entered some other universe. It was Saturday night and not one other person ventured in from this somewhat empty region of St. Kilda Road. What was more interesting was that not one order came in online or via the phone.
This is no reflection on the quality of the food. This was just one of those moments in life that you walk away from and feel the amazement. You understand the beauty of community, conversation, and humanity.
Everything had to come together in those 2 hours for the 3 of us to commune and conspire with no interruptions.
From The Menu to Pinsabella, the 2 days had been filled with some strange god or goddess of food. Life-cooked to perfection.
You may not have the same experience if you go to Pinsabella.
But I know you will meet Carmine and I know you will have a food item that will be new to your tastebuds, and you may never want a pizza again. Carmine did not hang up on us, he said he had phone problems, but I still think it was the mention of adding anchovies. No matter, that is a moment from the past that will not linger at all.
Hey Carmine, we will see you soon.
And for all of you who now want to get out and taste the best Pinsa around, Pinsabella is only open Friday and Saturday night, bookings are advised.
And hey, if you can’t get to Pinsabella, you can find the Pinsa bases at various food specialists around Melbourne, and of course, they are handmade by Carmine.
(Note-Carmine was born in Italy but has been cooking around Victoria for some time in his former digs at Pasta Adagio and before that at Osteria Passione.)
And below EVERYTHING you need to know about this yummy delight.