Tipo 00 was the pasta restaurant Melburnians didn’t know we needed. Handmade gnocchi? Squid ink tagliolini? We had plenty of that in 2014, but with its indefinable charm, Tipo squeezed into our hearts anyway. And it’s stayed put since.

Figlia (“daughter” in Italian), the newest member of the Tipo-Ilaria famiglia, opens tomorrow night and feels primed to do the same – but with pizza.

“We’ve always thought about [doing] a pizzeria,” says Luke Skidmore, who owns the three restaurants with chefs Andreas Papadakis and Alberto Fava. Years ago he visited influential Brooklyn pizzeria Roberta’s and never quite forgot about it.

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“It seemed quite Melbourne to me,” he says. “That was the inspiration, a little bit, for opening something outside the city and doing something industrial and really good quality and a bit more fun and relaxed.”

“Outside the city” is Lygon Street, Brunswick East, on a big corner site the trio has revamped drastically. It’s no longer recognisable as Cucina 333, the run-down pizzeria it was before.

“Industrial” means a raw aggregate concrete floor, rendered walls with dramatic uplights and an expanse of corrugated, not-quite-see-through perspex that looks into Grana, the forthcoming deli and cheese shop next door. Opposite that is a roller door that’ll be thrown up in summer, opening onto the side street. Bentwood chairs and squishy banquettes add a comforting bistro accent to what’d otherwise be a stark room.

The “fun” comes from 12 or so speakers hidden high in the shadows of the exposed ceiling, but announcing themselves loudly with disco, funk and, on my visit, catchy 1970 Afrobeat hit Né Noya, popularly remixed by Daphni in 2011. Is it a vibe? Yes, it is indeed a vibe.

The “relaxed” part? Figlia (the “G” is silent, by the way) isn’t on Little Bourke Street, which helps. So do the roomy floor plan and monolithic central bar, where you can sit up for a drink and a snack, with or without a booking. Tipo and Ilaria have always promised this in theory, but never really delivered it in practice (too small, too busy, too formal).

And you’ll want to drink. Every page of the list is full of small delights, from the Bloody “Madonna” made with basil-infused vodka to the list of well-priced Italian and Australian natural wines (if you’re drinking by the glass, the Il Farneto skin-contact malvasia is a banger). There’s also a serious beer list with hazy IPAs and wild-fermented sours, something even top restaurants regularly neglect in 2022.

This list makes excellent company for snacking (another thing you’ll want to do). And it’s here, before mains like bistecca and porchetta, that Figlia really shows its lineage. Kingfish crudo with vivid mandarin and pungent colatura fish sauce? Classic Ilaria. Duck mortadella with blood orange mostarda? The same smoky-citrusy thrills as Tipo’s mainstay starter of chargrilled octopus and citrus. Other choices include barbeque king prawns, a pretty simple cacio e pepe arancini, and vitello tonnato with smoked eel and capers.

But what about those pizzas? The ones this new restaurant will squeeze into our hearts with? They are Figlia’s defining feature and upgrade the area’s already impressive pizza credentials quite a bit.

The bases are a noticeably light sourdough, made from heritage-wheat flour and fired in a hybrid gas-woodfire oven stoked by head chef Flavio Argenio. Eventually cheeses will come from next door, where pastry-chef-turned-cheesemaker Lucy Whitlow has about 80 wheels on the go. For now, you can try her goods at dessert only.

Margherita is present and accounted for, but from there it’s a sharp turn into brave new ideas. Ideas like straciatella, fermented cavolo nero and chilli. Or mortadella, black shallots, taleggio and pistachio. Or Moreton Bay bug, heirloom tomato and marjoram.

It’s far from standard stuff, and could be just what Figlia needs to become the pizza restaurant Melburnians didn’t know we needed.

Figlia opens at 5pm on Wednesday August 24.

Figlia
331 Lygon Street, Brunswick East
0402 349 327

Hours:
Mon 5pm–late
Tue closed
Wed–Fri 5pm–late
Sat & Sun 12pm–late

figlia.com.au
@figliapizzeria
@flavioargenio