Melt

Walk this way anyone who's felt a bit put-out by the no-halves, no-variations, no-Hawaiians constraints of gourmet pizzerias. Melt lets you design your own pizza and it's made in real time: you name the ingredient and a nanosecond later, a sunny staff member is putting it on a base before your eyes. Since opening in May, Melt has made some interesting personalised pizzas. Like the $34 extravaganza with 11 add-ons, including prawns, meatballs, ham, capers, pineapple and salami; and, at the other extreme, the beige-only, bare base with chicken tenderloins and olive oil.

Melt's "down-the-line" set-up is similar to a make-to-order sandwich bar, with about 40 ingredients prepped, ready to go, but instead of walking up to the counter, you walk along it.

Start at the person spinning bases just inside the front door. The layout of ingredients follows the layout of a pizza, with meat first ($3), then vegies ($1), followed by cheeses ($2). There's a good range of chef-designed combos, too, and even if you choose a classic margherita, it's nice talking to your pizzaiolo on the other side of the counter.

You'd think traditional Italian pizza-makers would be slapping their foreheads in despair at all this build-your-own business, but maybe not so much. The dough is made to the exacting specifications of Naples' AVPN (a sort-of pizza protection society) - from whose 60-hour intensive training course the hands-on owners graduated. The oven meets AVPN requirements, too: it's wood-burning, has a stone base and gets hot enough (400 degrees) to cook pizza to puffy-edged, blistering perfection in 60 to 90 seconds.

So, the pizza purists and the freestylers are assuaged, but what about the masses probing the provenance of their food? They've got you covered with ingredients such as free-range ham, chicken and Italian sausage; local Meredith goat's cheese; even vegan cheese and gluten-free bases. And the "superfood" salad - packed with roasted root vegetables, seeds, nuts, quinoa and red rice - is a meal unto itself. And even more super with a side of doughballs; yep, steaming nuggets of pizza dough to tear open and slap with garlic butter.

There's something smart about a gleaming white subway-tiled wall, inlaid with perfectly placed products, such as hundreds of tins of DOP (denominazione d'origine protetta) San Marzano tomatoes (used on "crushed tomato" bases), their labels precisely angled. Behind the fizzing, fast-moving front room - with its pizza-creation counter, hard-working oven, and high tables and stools - is a more laid-back covered courtyard and quiet nook of a room that's good for a group - or to hide in with whatever chimera of a pizza you just created.

Do … Fulfil any kooky combo cravings.
Don't … Have time to eat in? Take it away.
Dish … Your own creation, or a roasted pumpkin pizza.
Vibe … Contemporary, quick service pizzeria.

goodfoodunder30@theage.com.au