Tucked away in Elanora Heights is a cool, casual pizza and pasta restaurant serving up delicious crispy pizzas with fresh toppings.
When we visit on a Saturday night, the restaurant is buzzing with diners, from couples to families, and we’re in a beautiful alfresco courtyard.
Co-owner Josie Stewart has a welcoming, friendly air and instantly we feel like we’ve visited a friend’s place for dinner. She brings out crispy garlic bread bursting with flavour, a lovely way to start our meal. “I would definitely say it’s family-friendly,” Josie says of the restaurant she and partner/head chef Heath Blinco started together in 2022.
Josie describes Barbert as having a ‘cozy backyard feel’ and Heath adds it is a ‘community restaurant.’ It’s all in the family, with the name ‘Barbert’ a combination of Josie’s middle name Barbara and Heath’s middle name Albert.
Popular entrée dishes at Barbert include arancini funghi, which are truffle mushroom arancini stuffed with mozzarella and served with aioli and napolitana sauce. Sizzling prosciutto twisters and salt and pepper calamari are also great options to start with.
The stone-baked pizzas are a must, with ‘traditional’ and ‘less traditional’ options available. We try the Jerry special, which has all the ingredients of a great pizza. It looks delicious, smells amazing and features fresh toppings like tomato, hot salami, bocconcini, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes and basil.
“A lot of work goes into the consistency of our menu,” Heath says. “I tried half a dozen different recipes for dough until I landed on this one, which took some tweaking.”
Barbert’s menu features a range of options for those with intolerances, including gluten-free pasta and pizza base options and pizzas with vegan cheese. The Bertie pizza, which is a creation of Josie’s, is a popular vegetarian pizza, with artichoke, friarielli, gorgonzola and mozzarella.
The pasta menu has something for everyone, and the linguine di mare features generous portions of king prawns and calamari in a rich sauce of tomato and fresh chilli. The spaghetti alla bolognese is a family favourite.
“A lot of the recipes in the kitchen, like our bolognese, is a combination of what my mum taught me, so quite a bit of tomato and wine in it, and like a traditional ragu,” Heath says.
The restaurant was recently named as a finalist in the Northern Beaches Local Business Awards – for the second year running. It’s easy to see why. This fabulous family restaurant is one to visit.
Barbert Pizza Co 47-49 Elanora Road, Elanora Heights
Phone: 9970 8775
barbertpizzaco.com.au