Little Caesars Pizzeria Leederville
Baker-trained pizza maker Theo Kalogeracos first opened his Little Caesars restaurant in Mundaring just 9 years ago, serving both the nearby locals and hungry people willing to travel (from overseas, interstate and intrastate) to indulge on his pizzas including the famous Mudhoney and Oysters Kilpatrick. With the buzz surrounding his book Theo & Co: The Search for the Perfect Pizza, and news about his 4th place ranking at the World Champions Pizza in Italy and finalist placing as World Pizza Champion in Las Vegas, people have flocked to his latest establishment in Leederville with full force. The place is packed every night and you will be expected to wait for quite a while to get a table.
Little Caesar’s Pizzeria Leederville
Comments written on pizza tins – ooh look, one from Eskimo Joe
The pizzeria – a full house
Out the back of the pizzeria
This was my third visit to Little Caesars – the previous two visits were met with closed doors – a lunch time visit (I didn’t know they were closed during the day), and one during the week of Christmas (break). A group of us sat on bar stools near the kitchen watching Theo and his young staff prepare pizzas for the hungry waiting customers. We had already ordered our pizzas. These were the Smashing Pumpkin ($20.00), The Max (The Lot) ($20.00), Margherita ($14.50), and Peri-Peri Prawns ($18.50) – all large.
Theo in the kitchen
A pizza being made behind frosted glass
A young staff member prepares a pizza
The margherita is the most difficult pizza to make because it has the fewest ingredients – everything has to be perfect. In Naples, pizza makers take their making very seriously, adhering to strict standards defined by Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. One place that comes to mind is Pizza Mario in Surry Hills, Sydney, which is an accredited member – they serve great pizzas. Stop by the next time you travel to Sydney…
But I digress…
Theo’s margherita pizza was distinctly modern, with a generous smattering of tomatoes, on a cheesy doughy base. The hint of tomato sauce underneath the cheese, and the juiciness of the tomatoes on top combined with the sweet, smokey pepperiness of the basil made this a very good eat indeed. It wasn’t a “classic” margherita, but you will be hard pressed to find a better one than this in Perth.
Margherita Pizza
Margherita slice
Margherita slice with a cooked basil leaf?
A juicy sliced tomato
Our next pizza was the Smashing Pumpkin. Personally I don’t like sweet pizzas (unless they’re dessert ones), but this turned out to be my favourite pizza of the night. There were a lot of ingredients - garlic cream sauce, mozzarella cheese, roasted cashews, butternut pumpkin in pesto, parmesan cheese, and parsley. The butternut pumpkin was sweet and caramelised like melted raw sugar, while the roasted cashews added a nice rich taste. The small touches of pesto and parsley gave the pizza some slightly peppery and anise-like qualities.
Smashing Pumpkin Pizza
A slice of the Smashing Pumpkin
Our third pizza was The Max (The Lot) – pizza sauce, cheese, ham, bacon, pepperoni, olives, onion, capsicum, fresh tomato, and pineapple. With the number of ingredients just listed, I thought the pizza slices would have fallen apart when picking up them up. Rather, the slices I had sat perfectly still in my hand and I was able to eat without any mess at all. The pizza was delicious.
The Max (The Lot) Pizza
A slice of The Max
The Peri-Peri Prawn pizza was an interesting one – large juicy prawns, cheese, olives, pizza sauce, parsley, and peri-peri sauce drizzled over the top for a tangy chilli kick. It wasn’t my favourite.
Peri-Peri Prawns Pizza
A slice of Peri-Peri Prawns
One thing you will notice about Theo’s pizzas is the flavour (oh, and the parsley). You can tell that Theo loves to pack flavour into his pizzas, with at least 5 or more toppings being the norm. At other pizza places I am forever picking up the scraps that fall onto the plate, but at Little Caesars I had none of that – all ingredients were layered nice and compact. The only downfall with the pizzas is that the bases are just too wet. They’re neither crispy nor doughy/fluffy but in between. I prefer my pizza bases doughy and thick.
I was fortunate to chat with Theo on the way out. He really is a nice guy.
On my next visit I will have to try the Mudhoney Pizza. That will be the first on my list.
Little Caesars Pizzeria
Address: 127 Oxford Street, Leederville
Tel: +61 8 9444 0499
Web: littlecaesarspizzeria.com.au
Opening Hours:
7 days a week (5:00pm – 10:00pm)
Related posts:
What, you didn’t try the mudhoney or any of the dessert pizzas while you were there – shame on you
Hey Michael! Yes I was very disappointed not to have any dessert pizza
However, I made a trip back with a friend, and we had a cinnamon tea cake pizza, maple syrup and ice cream. It was really good. We did feel a lil’ bit sick after our 3rd slice. 