New York state of mind: US-style pizza movement sweeping Melbourne

He grew up in his dad’s Cranbourne pizza shop, now this finance guru turned cook is making New York slices bayside at his new pizzeria.

Banker Ali Ali never saw any dough in pizza making.

That’s why he chased a career in finance after growing up in his dad’s Cranbourne West pizza shop, Ali’s Pizza.

But after falling in (and later out of) love with an American woman, and signing a lease on a Mentone shop in 2019, Ali strangely found himself back in the pizza game. He said

“I remember the week after we broke up, I broke down in tears. I had no idea what I was going to do with this shop and I didn’t want to be in food,” he said.

Ali looked to his roots to inspire what is now Bayside’s favourite New York-style pizzeria, Sunnyside Sliced.

Ali Ali is behind Bayside’s favourite pizzeria, Sunnyside Sliced. Picture: Jason Edwards

Since last March, Ali has built a thriving business and on busy nights sells up to 200 pizzas.

“I’ve had to develop all of my recipes from scratch after reading everything to learn as much as I could about pizzas,” he said.

Ali said US-style pies were popular in Melbourne because they made pizza fun again.

“Neapolitan pizzas used to be a street food you’d eat while walking down the street in Italy. Now all these restaurants are turning pizzas into a fine dining thing, charging $25 a pop and not putting on enough toppings,” he said.

“Pizza has also become very commercial and that craftsmanship has been lost to this generic, run-of-the-mill stuff.”

Sunnyside Sliced, 34 Como Pde West, Mentone, sunnysidesliced.com.au

New York state of mind

Melbourne’s appetite for giant, US-style pizzas has spilt into the suburbs.

Mentone’s Sunnyside Sliced and Fitzroy’s Deep End are the latest additions to the city’s cheese and red sauce tribe, joining stalwart city pizzerias Sal’s Authentic New York Pizzas and Connie’s in the fold.

Deep End is the newest US-inspired pizzeria to land in Melbourne, with chef Paul Kasten at the helm. Picture: Aaron Francis

Restaurateur Michael Madrusan, of Connie’s Italian Diner and Heartbreaker Bar, said

Melburnians were well versed in American culture, so it was only a matter of time before they fell in love with New York slices.

“As all different types of regional cuisines have their moment here, pizzas are having theirs – and now, Melburnians know the difference between Detroit or New York pizza, which is a win for us all,” he said.

Deep End serves Detroit, NY and Chicago-style pizzas. Picture: Aaron Francis

After the success of Heartbreaker Bar’s hole-in-the-wall pizzeria Connie’s (which is reopening in July) and lockdown takeaway service, Madrusan saw enough demand to launch a stand alone restaurant Connie’s Italian Diner in April this year.

Former HOST Dining head chef Paul Kasten opened Deep End in Fitzroy last week, a US inspired pizzeria making New York, Detroit and Chicago-style pies.

“A number of American-style pizzerias have been picking up over the last three to five years, but really the Aussie pizza scene is very Italian-centric,” Kasten said.

“The only sort of non-Italian specific pizzas are the really low quality end, so I think people are identifying there’s a big gap in the pizza market varieties.”

It’s early days, but Kasten said the Chicago-style pizzas were earning a crust at his store.