Pizzeria Magma jolts a beloved northside pizza restaurant back to life
A Fitzroy North address renowned for artisan pizza is about to bring back joy by the slice after lying dormant for a year, as Pizzeria Magma opens in the former Supermaxi site.
Magma is a progression of The Travelling Pizza Pie, a wood-fired oven on wheels that John-Paul Aziz fired up in 2020 and took to music festivals, functions and parking lots for three years as he honed his craft.
The former SPQR chef, who’s also done time at Shop 225, describes himself as a pizza obsessive who caught the bug 15 years ago.
His debut restaurant is a full circle journey for Supermaxi, the restaurant that pizza maestra Rita Macali and partner Giovanni Patane established in 2010, earning great acclaim before they closed it last year to pursue other projects.
Opening Magma in a hallowed space for pizza fans is not something Aziz takes lightly.
“Pizza is the perfect social tissue; everyone has some sort of connection with it,” he says.
Magma concentrates on just five or six pizzas on 48-hour fermented dough, with a margherita and marinara among them. But the menu still contains plenty of interest. Menta, an eggplant number with pickled onion and mint-pistachio sauce, is a nod to the Egyptian heritage of Aziz’s parents.
Snacks include whipped cod with witlof, radish and smoked paprika oil, plus chickpea panelle with confit garlic mayo. Pasta may be added later, if the right person joins the kitchen, but the focus right now is very much on the pies.
A black custom-made Mesiano wood-fired oven takes centre stage in the dining room, perhaps the most noticeable change. The timeless white walls and terrazzo remain and are complemented by timber Thonet furniture, while Magma’s bold, neon-tinged graphic design adds colour.
“[Supermaxi] served locals for such a long time. To walk in and remove all that history would be the greatest shame,” says Aziz.
After dreaming of doing this for many years, he sees a long future for himself of consistently turning out good pizza.
Aziz is in business with his sister and brother-in-law Melissa and Joe Demian, and has recruited James Ness (ex-Coda, Tonka) as his restaurant manager.
The drinks list is as focused as the menu, although there’s a generous by-the-glass offer and Baladian craft Italian sodas for those not drinking.
Open Wed-Sun 5pm-10pm from August 18
305 St Georges Road, Fitzroy North, pizzeriamagma.com
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Emma Breheny – Emma is Good Food's Melbourne-based reporter and co-editor of The Age Good Food Guide 2024.