Macleay’s Pizzeria has been loved by generations for 32 years. So when the previous owner, Michael Marcelli retired last year, pizza lovers in the 2011 postcode area suffered PWS – Pizza Withdrawal Syndrome. PSW can’t be treated medically. There is only one known cure: rebirth.

Now Italians, Joe and Stella and their pizza-loving “famiglia”, have re-opened the pizzeria with a fresh look, but have kept the same authentic recipes, with a few twists.

The bright, fresh, open plan-designed shop has a distinctive heritage-home ambience with its vintage French, cream hutch dresser, iron kitchen scales and an elegant turquoise and ruby Venetian glass vase. Elegant French metal café tables complement natural wood tables.  A hand-made, rough-hewn wooden bar and a nineteenth century pine pew are adaptively re-used as waiting areas for take-away orders.

“We wanted to maintain the heritage look and feel. It gives customers continuity and shows respect for the former pizzeria.“We moved here because of the great location, marvellous opportunity, and lovely people. “We’ve even named a pizza, the Macleay Pizza, after them. It contains all the best eclectic ingredients,” Stella says.

The shop’s famous, heritage trompe-l’œil, an inherited artistic wall feature, still exists. It looks down on customers like a silent sentinel with its Corinthian columns, Roman colosseum, Venetian gondolier with his straw cappello, a large hand resembling  Michelangelo’s 16^th century ‘Creation of Adam’ fresco from the Sistine Chapel and, of course a pepperoni pizza.

The pizzeria is run by the whole family, Stella, Pizza Masterchef, Joe Senior, Tony, a business graduate, Joe Jnr, Sal (vatori) and Rosa. Joe Jnr, Sal and Tony have their own pizzas designed by and named after them.

Joe Senior has been a pizza king for over thirty years and learnt from his father. His father still continues to make pizzas after half a century and his brothers are also pizza chefs. Pizzas are in their bones.

“Perfection is the key to the best pizzas,” he insists, adding, “a truly traditional pizza has a crusty base and uses only the freshest ingredients”. A providore delivers farm-fresh ingredients to the shop at the crack of dawn. He kneads the dough at least twice daily. For his chefs-d’œuvre Joe hand-plucks fresh basil and mint leaves straight from the herbarium in the window. Ingredients are so fresh they are still living.

Joe Snr recalls an extremely busy night last week when he accidentally added mint instead of basil to a pizza. A potential disaster was turned into a miracle. The customer loved the new taste sensation.

A San Marzano tomato-coloured, Italian neon wall sign, “Mangia” (Eat!) is an injunction served on customers to eat well.

Many former customers have returned to the new shop. They rave about the pizzas’ quality. The family couldn’t be happier and feel privileged.

“We love sharing our pizzas with our new community family. Customer reaction has been overwhelmingly generous”, says Rosa.

“Fantastic; fresh; love the new look; coming in soon,” customers say on social websites including famous newsreader, local identity and bon vivant, Geoff Field.

So Stella and the whole family now plan to introduce traditional gelati and pasta choices for locals to savour.

Macleay’s Traditional Pizza, 101 Macleay Street Potts Point

Licenced BYO no corkage Phone  9356 4262

email macleaystreetpizza@gmail.com   Instagram  @macleayspizzeria

Facebook – Macleay Street Pizza

Hours  Mon-Fri & Sund: 9am -12 midnight, Thurs –Sat: 8am – 1am

By Andrew Woodhouse, Director, Heritage Solutions