Images: Pluto Pizza
A wood-fired oven that sat unused for almost a decade is back in action, with a new pizzeria bringing a fresh chapter to a familiar West Lakes location.
Pluto Pizza has opened at 290 Sportsmans Drive, taking over the former Pane Fresco bakery site and giving its original brick oven a new purpose.
Behind the venture is head chef and co-owner Alex, who has joined forces with a group of longtime friends to create a neighbourhood takeaway inspired by Italian-American pizza culture.
Alex brings considerable hospitality experience to the project, having completed his apprenticeship across Golden Boy and Africola before working at The Summertown Aristologist, The Scenic Hotel and Sunny’s Pizza, where he has worked on and off since its early days.
Having grown up in nearby Henley Beach, Alex was already familiar with the West Lakes location. However, it was the discovery of the old wood-fired oven that made the site particularly appealing.
The oven dates back to the building’s days as Pane Fresco, a Portuguese bakery that operated from the address for years before closing. Alex estimates it had been dormant for around a decade before Pluto’s arrival.
Although originally designed for baking bread rather than pizza, the oven was still in relatively good condition. The team installed a new base to improve heat retention and introduced a supplementary gas burner, allowing it to run predominantly on wood while maintaining consistent temperatures.
“It was just real cold. It took a while, a couple of days, for it to start holding temperature to where we wanted it,” Alex explained.
With the oven now back in action, Alex has developed a pizza base that draws inspiration from New York and New Haven styles, with a slightly more substantial structure designed to travel well in a takeaway box.
“A traditional Italian pizza or Neapolitan pizza, they don’t really hold well. They get a bit soggy and floppy,” he said, explaining why the team opted for a different style of dough.
The dough is made using Italian-style flour milled in New South Wales and fermented for 48 to 72 hours, including a lengthy cold fermentation. The process develops flavour, gives the crust a subtle tang and creates the golden colour and small blisters associated with wood-fired baking.
The menu follows a similarly considered approach, focusing on familiar flavours rather than elaborate combinations.
“I find a lot of takeaway pizzas just have way too much on them,” Alex explained.
His personal favourite is the tomato pizza, a simple combination of tomato sauce, pecorino, salt, pepper, oregano and garlic.
While the team sources most ingredients locally or elsewhere in Australia, some specialty products, including tomatoes and cheeses, come from Italy.
The space itself has also undergone a refresh, with Adelaide creative studio 2049 developing the branding and interiors around a contemporary interpretation of an Italian-American diner.
Although takeaway is the primary focus, the team wants Pluto to feel like a neighbourhood business, rather than just another delivery option.
The Pluto Pizza team.
The pizzeria has introduced its own delivery drivers, initially servicing an area of approximately five kilometres around West Lakes, with plans to expand its reach through third-party delivery platforms.
“We really wanted to have our own delivery service, kind of like make it a bit more personal,” Alex said.
Since quietly opening in early October, Pluto has received an enthusiastic response from locals.
But for now, the focus is on refining operations and establishing the menu. Alex hopes to introduce rotating specials, allowing popular new creations to earn a permanent place alongside the classics.
For West Lakes locals who remember the old bakery, Pluto offers a chance to revisit a familiar address, where the historic oven is once again producing something fresh.
Pluto Pizza
Where: Shop 3, 290 Sportsmans Drive, West Lakes
When: Wednesday to Sunday, 5pm–9pm
Phone: 0459 062 667
To find out more, click here.
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