Sunny’s Pizza | SA Weekend restaurant review

With retro vibes and a huge wood oven, this restaurant “puts the party in pizza”. Here’s why it’s the only place where reviewer Simon Wilkinson will order a Hawaiian.

The interior at Sunny’s. Picture: Supplied by Simon Wilkinson

The long-awaited return of our annual restaurant guide, the delicious.100, has meant the reviewing list over the past month or so has been filled with a higher-than-normal quota of dining heavy hitters.

Not that I’d dream of complaining about a succession of meals at some of the state’s
finest establishments, but what really appeals every now and then is something a little less, well, serious.

A visit to Sunny’s, as it happens, is the perfect antidote. Tucked away in a dodgy laneway between Currie and Hindley streets, this rollicking joint is on a mission to put the party into pizza. But dig beneath all the gags, retro styling and laid-back demeanour and you will find a professional crew with a fierce commitment to quality in all they do.

On a cold and miserable Tuesday night, we arrive for an early booking to find a near-empty restaurant. Oh well. Half an hour later, every seat is filled and the place is jumping. Staff are stretched thinner than the dough balls being shaped in the squeezy kitchen, which we discover later is operating a man down after an unfortunate earlier incident.

The delicious pizzas at Sunny’s. Picture: Supplied by Simon Wilkinson

Sitting at an adjacent table we are oblivious to any issues, as tiles of light from the mirror ball overhead shimmy across its surface.

Drinks in hand, we survey the photographs that fill much of the wood-panelled walls. There is a real sense of history here, and family too. All these pictures were taken by a valued former comrade of mine at The Advertiser, Grant Nowell, the father of Andy, one of the Sunny’s co-owners.

It was in late 2016 that Nowell junior and a small group of industry buddies teamed up to open the kind of place they’d want to hang out in. Other than the addition of a private function/spill-over room next door, very little has changed since then.

A single-sheet menu (beverages are on the back) splits the food between pizza and “not pizza”, with the majority of dishes from both lists having spent some time at least in the belly of their beast of a wood oven.

The fire certainly has done wonderful things to halved brussels sprouts, with the outer leaves all charred and toasty but still some crunch and sweetness at the heart. A mound of pearl barley adds substance, while romesco sauce, burnt orange dressing and sprigs of dill bring everything to life.

It has also crisped up the topping of pecorino and breadcrumbs sprinkled over a ceramic bowl filled with gnocchi (sourced from Marino Meat and Food Store) in a richly flavoured napolitana sauce. Mangia, mangia.

Supplied Editorial Butchers cut steak and roasted radicchio at Sunny's Pizza, Adelaide

The pizza oven at Sunny’s. Picture: Supplied by Simon Wilkinson

The butcher’s cut this night is a flank steak, expertly grilled and rested before slicing to serve with the bittersweet symphony of charred radicchio and syrupy vincotto. Nothing else is necessary.

Sunny’s won’t bang on about the artisan methodology of their pizzas, but their dough is given 48 hours to develop, resulting in a base with enough backbone to carry its load and a puffed crust that is tender and moreish.

More important are the toppings, most of them recognisably Italian, but enhanced with a few cheffy touches to ensure each combination has plenty of punch.

It’s the only place I’d order a “Hawaiian”, here made with the pineapple chargrilled, gabagool (aka capocollo) in place of the usual ham and splashes of a green chilli salsa that make the whole thing sing.

Slices of pepperoni, squid ink cacciatore and olives are laid over a base slathered with onion confit, as well as the regular passata. Pork and fennel sausage is another favourite, this time matched with provolone cheese, dried ricotta, onion and oregano.

Sunny’s has recently done up a truck and put a wood oven on the flat-bed to take its pizzas on the road. Watch out for it at an upcoming ADL Unleashed event – or make a booking and bring the party to your place soon.