It’s a warm summer’s evening as I stroll towards Firestone Pizzeria & Bar, nestled among the chaos of Woolley Street in Dickson.
Firestone has a relaxed and intimate feel, and after being seated and absorbing its atmosphere you feel a world away from the hustle and bustle, hanging barbecue ducks and parking chaos immediately outside. The room is long and narrow, and the lighting is dim. We are seated at a table against the wall on comfortable benches facing the bar area. This is somewhat of a feature of Firestone’s interior with its sleekly lit cubed shelves behind holding the contents of the extensive wine list and drinks menu.
Despite the impressive fit out, the staff are friendly and the menu is unpretentious in both price and detail. The pizza and pasta dishes, for example, rather than each having an abstract name, are described solely by their ingredients which is helpful to those with allergies and intolerances. And the pizzas range from as little as $5.90 to $18.90, with most around the $14 mark. With pizza prices in Canberra and major cities often as high as $25, it is refreshing to see a price point a little friendlier on the back pocket without comprimising on quality ingredients.
But the menu isn’t only about pizza and pasta. There is a tongue in cheek ‘not pasta’ menu of mains – salmon, steaks, chicken, and the menu also caters for tapas, dessert pizza and dessert.
We start our adventure through the menu with the prosciutto wrapped scallops with basil oil ($13.90), the haloumi with tomato salsa and lemon ($8.9) and the zucchini and gorgonzola fritters with garlic yoghurt ($9.90). The scallops are a real highlight, with the prosciutto creating a crispy exterior in contrast to the soft and subtle texture of the scallops.
We then choose a main from each sub-menu – pizza, pasta and not pasta. The pizza with tomato, mozzarella, roasted peppers, mushroom, semi sundried tomatoes, roquette and goats cheese ($14.90) we’re told is a popular choice, and we soon discover why. The richness of the goats cheese and sun dried tomatoes is offset nicely by the freshness of the mushrooms, peppers and roquette.
The rigatoni with sweet Italian pork, onion, fennel, chilli and tomato ($17.90) comes next, a dish we’re told was inspired by a pasta dish on the Sopranos which was found to have origins in southern Italian fare. The sweetness of the pork and the slight bitterness of the fennel make for a distinct flavour that leaves you wanting more. This is definitely a dish I would order again.
The 250g eye fillet with pork reduction on mash ($29.90) adds some solid protein to our evening meal, and is a pleasing, hearty dish with the pork reduction adding some sweetness to the evenly cooked and tender fillet.
For dessert we opt for Firestone’s signature gelati cones quartet ($11.90) to share. Four small wafer cones, filled with popular gelato flavours, are lined up on a bar stand for us to devour. The small, sweet morsels are enough to satisfy a dessert craving but they don’t lead you astray to overindulgence. It’s a genuinely fresh menu idea that is also practical for a family or group dinner, and embodies the ‘sharing is caring’ approach of the firestone menu via the tapas and pizza options.
Firestone serves cheap and cheerful food that does not compromise on quality. This is not something that is easy to come across in the Canberra dining scene, where there is a gradual but steady creep towards higher prices and fine dining across the board. Whether it be for a quick business lunch or a low key dinner on a week night, or a larger group event, the Firestone experience will not disappoint.
Photography by Chris Whitfield.
