Turns out pizza without cheese is still bloody excellent. Sure, there were a lot of naysayers on the internet when Gigi on South King Street changed to a plant-based menu, but they were wrong, because a chewy, wood-fired pizza base covered in a layer of sweet golden tomato puree and tender ribbons of capsicum gets all the umami depth it needs from a liberal dose of olive tapenade, capers, chilli, oregano and olive oil. The salty, savoury and spice trifecta hits all the right flavour zones on your tongue – we swear you won’t even miss the mozzarella. Don’t believe us? Just try getting a table – it’s a packed house every night. If you really crave something creamy they have dairy-free cheese on some of the menu items, but consider giving the ripieno zucca e spinaci a whirl – it uses a pumpkin cream base and then piles Swiss brown mushrooms, spinach, onion, cherry tomatoes and more pumpkin on top with rosemary and thyme for a woody, herbal ballast.
Check out Time Out's guide to the best vegan restaurants in Sydney.