Melbourne is famous for its multicultural cuisine and a fondness for Italian food. Melbourne is also the third most vegan-friendly city in the world. So it makes sense that Melbourne has a vegan Italian pizzeria. Red Sparrow Pizza is Melbourne’s first 100% vegan pizzeria, with locations in Prahran and Collingwood. Red Sparrow Pizza founders and self-confessed pizza lovers Michael and Shelley were keen to share how Red Sparrow Pizza started and what makes a memorable vegan pizza.
So, why pizza? Why did you choose to open Melbourne’s first all-vegan pizza place?
“Who doesn’t love pizza? I (Michael) have been working in hospitality for the past 17 years. So, when it came time to open our own business, we asked ourselves ‘where would we like to go?’ At the time, there was nowhere offering the vegan pizza that we wanted to eat in the kind of venue that we wanted to go to, so we decided to do it ourselves.”
How long have you both been vegan?
“We have both been vegan for over 15 years now, with Shelley being vegetarian for most of her life, since she was 10 years old.”
Where did the name Red Sparrow come from?
“The name doesn’t have a huge deep meaning. We were originally thinking about opening as a food truck and at the time I was reading a Bukowski novel at the time that was talking about ‘searching for the Red Sparrow’, which we thought may be a fun thing we could incorporate with the truck popping up at different locations. We ended up opening a restaurant instead but the name stuck.”
Tell us more about your van. Why did you decide to have the van operating in addition to Red Sparrow Pizza’s two locations?
“The food truck we got for a bit of fun to work alongside the two venues, to help promote the brand in different locations as we grow the business. We’ve recently taken it to the Yarra Valley and out to the eastern suburbs and it’s great to be able to cater to people who can’t make it to the restaurant. We’re also hoping to make some appearances at music festivals once they start happening again.”
Red Sparrow Pizza specialises in making pizzas in the Napolitana technique…
“We decided to make wood fired Neapolitan style pizza bases as we really wanted to show that vegan pizza can be just as good as non-vegan pizza. With Neapolitan being the original pizza and often regarded as the authentic and best way of making pizza, we decided that’s where we would focus.
The Neapolitan way of making pizza requires a bit more work and patience as we make our dough three days in advance to improve the flavour, but the end result is worth it. We also cook at a very high temperature, with pizzas cooking in between 60 to 90 seconds, something that isn’t possible with an electric oven.
However, although we prepare our dough and cook our pizzas in the Napolitana style, we don’t restrict ourselves with toppings and flavour combinations, which I think makes for a unique style of pizza, regardless of it being vegan or not.”
Have you both been to Naples, the origin of pizza?
“We have not been to Naples; however I have been to New York three times which I consider the second home of pizza and somewhere that really showed me that great vegan pizza was possible.”
You make traditional pizzas with experimental toppings. What is your most popular pizza?
“All our pizzas sell very well, but most people like to start with the classic Pepperoni.”
What would you recommend? What would be the dream Red Sparrow Pizza order?
“We always recommend people try to share both a veggie focussed pizza and a mock meat pizza so they get a bit of everything, with a side of spicy Not Wings of course!”
You also cater for gluten-free requirements. Has the demand increased since you opened?
“The demand hasn’t increased over the years, but has always been a good part of our business.”
Do non-vegans come and try your food?
“We have non-vegans coming every day and the vast majority of them are pleasantly surprised. We always like to hear about vegans bringing their non-vegan friends and showing them how great vegan food can be.”
When you’re in Melbourne, sample Red Sparrow Pizza for yourself!
- 406 Smith St, Collingwood Victoria 3066 Australia. Phone: +613 9417 1454
- 260 Chapel Street, Prahran Victoria 3181 Australia. Phone: +613 9533 8490
To book a table, go to the Red Sparrow Pizza website. To learn more about the delectable food on offer, or where the Red Sparrow Pizza van is pulling up to, visit the Red Sparrow Pizza Facebook and Instagram pages.
