Farina is a Neapolitan pizzeria and Italian restaurant at 244 Ponsonby Road, on the corner of Summer Street. Its name means flour in Italian, which suits a kitchen built around handmade pasta and wood-fired pizza. The restaurant is owned by Naples-born chef Sergio Maglione, and it has held Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana certification since 2016, one of only three certified pizzerias in New Zealand. It was named Metropolitan Restaurant of the Year in 2025.
The pizzas are wood-fired, 12 to 13 inches across, and made to strict Neapolitan tradition. The menu follows the classic Italian order of antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni and dolce. Of the seven pasta dishes, three are handmade, and visitors name the pasta as the stand-out, with a green oil sauce that is spiced and full of flavour, and a duck pasta with burnt butter and sage. The Clam Linguine and the crudo come up often in reviews. There is a mozzarella bar using fresh cheese from Il Casaro, a dedicated oyster and seafood counter with daily seasonal specials, and a friggitoria section for Italian fried dishes, with truffle fries also mentioned. Dessert is tiramisù and cannoli, with Italian classics given modern twists.
Visitors describe the service as attentive without being pushy, and several people have chosen Farina for anniversaries and celebrations, saying the food and service were both excellent. The room works for a family meal as well as a date, and the wine list and aperitivo make it a good stop before dinner.
Hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 5pm until late, Thursday to Sunday from midday until late, and the restaurant is closed on Mondays.
Our pick in Ponsonby for pizza and a long, slow pasta dinner with a glass of wine.
At the corner of Ponsonby Road and Summer Street, Farina has been flying the flag for genuine Italian cooking since 2014. The name means "flour" in Italian — a fitting choice for a kitchen built around handmade pasta and wood-fired Neapolitan pizza, and a nod to owner Sergio Maglione's belief that everything starts with high-quality ingredients.
Sergio's story begins in Naples. More than 25 years ago he arrived in New Zealand as a young pizza chef, worked as a chef and restaurateur, and eventually became co-owner of Toto Restaurant. In 2014 he opened Farina to showcase the food he grew up with — Italian street food, handmade pasta and Neapolitan wood-fired pizza — in a modern, social setting.
The commitment to doing things the Neapolitan way is official: in 2016 Farina earned certification from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), the international body that safeguards true Neapolitan pizza. Membership number 592 makes it one of just three certified pizzerias in New Zealand, meeting strict requirements for ingredients, preparation and cooking. More recently, Farina was honoured as the 2025 Metropolitan Restaurant of the Year and holds a TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award.
The menu follows the traditional Italian format — antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni and dolce — with a few distinctive counters of its own. The Oyster & Seafood Bar serves fresh seafood; the Mozzarella Bar, run in collaboration with Il Casaro cheese makers, showcases high-quality mozzarella and buffalo products; and the Friggitoria is devoted to Italian fried specialties.
Pasta lovers can choose from seven dishes, three of them handmade, while the pizza list runs to 13 options including a calzone — each 12 to 13 inches across, with the soft, elastic, tender, fragrant crust the Neapolitan tradition demands. Sergio sources specialty ingredients like cured meats, cheeses, tomatoes, capers and olives directly from Italy, complemented by fresh produce, meats and seafood from carefully selected small-batch producers. Daily meat and fish specials track the seasons, and the whole menu is updated seasonally. Vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-friendly diners are well looked after.
Save room for dolce: Italian classics like tiramisù and cannoli sit alongside modern twists on traditional sweets, best paired with coffee, a dessert wine — or a true Italian finish of amaro or grappa.
Farina's layout is deliberately social. An open kitchen and rear pizza bar let you watch dishes being prepared, communal tables and counter seating fill the dining room, and a full bar pours Italian and local wines, cocktails and beer on tap. The cocktails go beyond trends, built on real produce, premium ingredients and housemade cordials and liqueurs.
In 2019 the restaurant added a terrace, now a semi-outdoor private space whose handmade steel and glass long tables date from Farina's original "pizza by the metre" days, dressed with a European-inspired painting by Steve Sacatos and curtains for extra intimacy. A 2024 renovation expanded the front dining room and bar, upgraded the kitchen, and uncovered a set of original stained-glass windows from 1882 — carefully restored and now a feature of the new space. Softer terracotta reds, neutral tones and adjustable lighting keep the room bright and airy by day and warm at night.
Farina is closed Mondays; dinner runs from 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and from noon Thursday to Sunday, until late. Between 3 and 5pm the kitchen serves its bar food menu and pizza — ideal aperitivo territory with a vermouth in hand. There's a Bambini menu for younger guests (classic pizzas only — no Hawaiian, the kitchen insists), and celebration cakes can be ordered with 36 hours' notice. Functions, chef's menus, set menus and catering are available, along with takeout. Note that outside food and drink aren't permitted (no BYO), and a 15% surcharge applies on public holidays. Reach it by buses 010, 20, 505, 525, 866, 966 or INN to the Summer Street stops — or find on-street parking along Ponsonby Road.