Pizza the Roman way, Mamma Mia!
Written by: Laura Nierengarten
Right beside Mayfield’s buzzing Maitland Road stretch, sits the recently opened Fermento Pizza. From the outside, this pizza joint might look like your typical takeaway, but step inside and you’ll instantly realise Fermento Pizza is anything but your average Friday night pizza shop.
Since opening in July 2025, chef Vito Sechi has been experimenting with new flavours that change regularly based on what’s in season.
With years of cooking experience along the East Coast Australia, Vito has always been passionate about food until an injury almost forced him to hang up the apron.
chef Vito Sechi
During a trip to his hometown of Sardinia, surrounded by rich aromas and flavours of home, Vito was instantly reminded of his love for traditional Italian cooking and was eager to share that passion with the Hunter.
Inspired by his family, friends and passion for food, Vito has ventured down a new path in his culinary career by opening his own pizza kitchen.
His kitchen embraces his family’s sustainable mantra, never waste an ingredient, there's always a way to make use of what’s in season.
Reliving his childhood cooking memories, Vito believes fine dining isn’t about frills; it's about creating delicious food with the best ingredients and sharing it with people you love.
Fermento Pizza pays homage to traditional Italian pizza-making methods by introducing non-traditional toppings that showcase the freshest in-season produce from local farms. Rooted in community, Fermento is all about reuniting family, friends, and neighbours over fresh, delicious food without the fuss.
What chef Vito is DisHhing up
A quick, tasty takeaway pizza dinner made with only the highest quality local ingredients. These rectangular pizzas may not look like your standard round ones, but they draw on centuries old Roman pizza-making techniques, which traditionally use long paddles to shape the dough into rectangles.
The rectangular slices make it perfect for takeaway and allows diners to sample multiple flavours. The crust, crispy yet airy, is made in-house using a Roman-style dough recipe that undergoes a long fermentation process, making it lighter and easier to digest. This dough science is something Vito has spent years refining.
Not only does Vito make the dough from scratch, but he also prepares many of the pizza toppings in-house, including his delicious sausage, ricotta, and tiramisu mascarpone. If he can’t find a high-quality ingredient, he’ll make it himself. Fermento Pizza is a perfect blend of old and new, crafted with passion by a chef who loves what he does.
Our must-tries from the oven:
Quattro (Veg)
A twist on a traditional staple, this four-cheese pizza is loaded with mozzarella, green gorgonzola, pecorino and taleggio on top of a charcoal base. The charcoal enhances the cheese's flavours, creating a rich, cheesy delight.
Ciociara
For the meat lover in the group, this slice is piled with Vito’s homemade pork and fennel sausage packed with flavour and paired with smoked ham, tomato, and melted fior di latte.
Spring menu: Prima (Veg)
A celebration of spring’s produce with in-season zucchini flowers, fermented garlic oil, tomato, corn crème, stracciatella cheese, and finger lime on a red beetroot base. This one is for the veggie pizza fans.
Spanish
Succulent slow-roasted capsicum marinated in sage and olive oil, paired with freshly-ground, homemade chorizo and salami, on a margherita base with fior di latte mozzarella.
Colle
A balance of hillside flavours, slow-roasted beef, wilted spinach, the right touch of fermented garlic, and smooth homemade whipped ricotta.
Tiramisu
Give the chef some eggs and cocoa, and he’ll whip up an incredible tiramisu. Fermento’s tiramisu starts with house-made Savoiardi biscuits soaked in coffee syrup, layered with a homemade mascarpone and egg mixture, and dusted with cocoa. Be sure to save room for this delectable Italian dessert.
What’s next for Fermento? Vito plans to expand Fermento’s offerings by adding an Italian pasticceria to the kitchen. Italian pizza and sweets, what more could you ask for?
The rundown
→ Rectangular twist on classic takeaway pizza
→ Portion sizes for every appetite
→ Casual date night $$
→ Vegetarian options
→ The homemade sausage on the Ciociara is next level, and the tiramisu is out of this world!
The DisHh features are booked anonymously and paid independently by HUNTERhunter. A restaurant cannot pay to be featured in The DisHh.
