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It’s 5pm on a Saturday afternoon, and as Balmain’s bookstores and cafés close their doors, a queue begins to form on the corner of Darling Street. If I hadn’t been aware that the neighbourhood pizzeria had just been crowned one of the best in the Asia Pacific region, I could have guessed by the hoards of hungry pizza fiends gathering on its doorstep.
Sydney has never been short on great pizza, but Gigi’s Balmain is playing a different game. At this long-running fave, owner and pizza maker Daniel Semrani has spent more than 15 years perfecting what he calls “Crunchy Contemporary Neapolitan” – a style that swaps the usual floppy base for a crisp, structured crust with a soft, pillowy interior. The technique leans heavily on fermentation science and dough hydration, creating a lighter, fully cooked pizza that delivers big flavour without the gumminess that can plague under-fermented bases.
Ingredients get the same meticulous treatment. Expect carefully sourced tomatoes, seasonal produce and a curated lineup of extra-virgin olive oils chosen to complement specific pizzas – a level of detail that’s helped land Gigi’s serious international cred. In 2026, the Balmain institution was crowned Australia’s No.1 pizzeria by 50 Top Pizza, with Semrani also taking home Pizza Maker of the Year Asia Pacific.
While the awards are impressive, the Gigi’s team aren’t resting on them – with Semrani consistently experimenting with new recipes and formats. The big name pizza is the twice-cooked “Versace” – which comes topped with prosciutto, stracciatella, grana padano and truffle honey. And a meal here is about so much more than pizza – the antipasto line-up is pretty stellar, with the garlic prawns and beef tartare particular stand-outs. Our advice? Arrive hungry.
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