Maestro Sourdough Pizza, the first contemporary Neapolitan pizzeria in North Beach

It is a happy ending story that of Andrea Brunelli, owner and Pizza Chef of Maestro Sourdough Pizza in North Beach, Australia. After a decade of experience in the restaurant business as a pizza maker, Andrea found himself out of work in 2020. So, he started making pizzas at home for a small circle of friends, but soon the whole neighbourhood flocked to his backyard by word of mouth. From there to the opening of his own restaurant in September 2020, the step was short.
Today, Andrea runs his own pizzeria “which stands out for the goodness of its pizzas, with high, airy crusts and well-balanced toppings,” as 50 Top Pizza defines it, including the restaurant in the Top Ten Oceania 2021 ranking. Andrea tells us more about his story and his pizza, made with the heat of Neapolis in this interview:

How did you come to the opening of this new format of yours?
After working for more than 10 years in food service between Italy and Australia, I lost my job in March 2020. Finding myself without an income, during the lockdown I printed flyers that I distributed in the neighbourhood, in which I offered to prepare takeaway pizzas in my garden in exchange for a small donation. What started as a game turned into a 50-pizza-per-weekend home pizzeria on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
One evening one of my neighbours, while waiting in line for his pizza, jokingly told me that at this rate I would have needed a bigger place, and that one of the shops at the top of the street had become vacant. The next day I immediately contacted the real estate agent. From there, on 13 September 2020, we opened the doors of Maestro Sourdough Pizza, the first contemporary Neapolitan pizzeria in North Beach.
The idea was born from the need to export the passion and knowledge for pizza to all those interested, offering a product of the highest quality in every aspect, both in terms of raw materials and equipment used.

What and how many products do you bake with Neapolis?
Our menu mainly includes pizza. On average we make 500 to 600 per week with Neapolis, which we also use to gratinate pasta, especially gnocchi and fettuccine.
Although I have always worked with wood-fired ovens before, I was honestly amazed by Neapolis’ speed and perfection of baking. This is also confirmed by our customers, who are always satisfied.

Why did you choose this oven?
After careful research, we opted for Moretti Forni’s Neapolis because it is the best competitor to the wood-fired oven in terms of its characteristics, indeed it ensures better and constant performance.
In addition, the fact that it has no ‘CO₂ emissions’ means that we saved on work during the construction of the restaurant, having simply inserted it under the kitchen ventilation system already planned.
Neapolis has proved to be an excellent product: extremely easy to manage, with limited consumption, amazing final product and, at the same time, always great quality.

Maestro Pizza

Where: 111C Flora Terrace, North Beach WA 602, Australia