It’s a Friday night and on heading up the stairs to Dee Why’s latest pizza and pasta restaurant, Ullo, we are immediately transported to the weekend. The warm red, brown and orange tones of the interior, pumping music and the excitable vibe are just the start. Not to mention the beautiful views of Dee Why Beach all the way out to Long Reef.
There’s a spacious bar area and the cocktail list features delights like ‘fairy bread on-da rocks,’ a drink featuring a special ice cube with the word ‘Ullo’ engraved with hundreds and thousands on top. There’s also an extensive wine list to peruse, setting the scene for a relaxed dining experience.
It’s the feeling owner Kurtis Bosley was going for when he created Ullo. “I wanted to create a space that was not just about the pizza,” he says. “Once you make your way up the stairs, you get transported into a little realm where you really get away from the day to day.”
Ullo is a pizza restaurant, but it offers more than your traditional fare. We start with a shared salumi plate, featuring black truffle and squid ink salami and Wagyu pastrami.
Ullo is also a wine bar which is open late, so share plates are a good option for customers who want to drop in for a glass of wine. They also play host to DJs on weekends and live music on Sundays.
You’ll find your pizza favourites at Ullo, but they also offer new and interesting flavours. The night we visit there’s a gyoza pizza, which is the week’s special flavour – and it’s delicious.
Kurtis, who also owns Corretto in Dee Why and Blanco in Manly, spent a lot of time talking to customers to find out what the area was missing, and came up with Ullo, a pizza place with a difference. “There’s enough pizza places on the Northern Beaches that are doing traditional things we know and love and expect,” he says. “So we wanted to try and find different ways.” Kurtis points to the vegetarian pizza, for which the team makes a spice pumpkin base, then adds purple carrots, pine nuts for texture and salsa verde.
There are also pasta dishes to try, the crab tagliatelle featuring blue swimmer crab; and the truffle cacio e pepe spaghetti.
By the time we hit dessert, making a choice between tiramisu cannoli, strawberry puff and signature affogato before tucking into a raspberry sorbet, we’re well and truly in weekend mode – thanks to the Ullo experience.
Ullo
Level 1, 23 The Strand, Dee Why
Phone: 8068 0664
ullopizzawine.com