Pizza bar Stoked opens at Stokes Hill Wharf

Worker shortages across the industry may have presented a challenge to its opening, but Darwin’s newest pizza joint is here and promising an experience unlike any other.

TERRITORIANS are set to soak in the beauty of a Darwin Harbour sunset over a slice of delicious pizza after approval was given for a new joint at Stokes Hill Wharf.

Stoked Bar will be open until the end of the Dry, but its new manager has revealed it was only by trawling through Facebook groups for hours on end, searching for workers, that the new eatery managed to open up.

Xtra Ordinary Event business manager Jane Jones said finding people to work at the restaurant proved difficult.

“It is tough, it is really tough,” Ms Jones said.

“I really find you’ve got to chase after them.”

She said she primarily focused on backpacker groups and local pages.

But the effort has paid off, with Ms Jones saying Stoked now has an extensive pizza and drinks menu, including a pineapple cocktail poured inside a pineapple.

The new pizza joint joins the existing 30 metre-high ferris wheel at Stokes Hill Wharf. Picture: Che Chorley

“The best part is by far is you can grab something to eat, and just enjoy the most beautiful view, either towards Darwin City or out to the sea,” she said.

Planning for the new venue began straight after the ferris wheel at Stokes Hill packed up in October, and the Northern Territory Liquor Commission last month granted it a licence to serve beverages.

The new venue’s application was supported by the Darwin Waterfront Corporation, and was made in conjunction with Xtra Ordinary Events, which operates the ferris wheel and minigolf businesses at the popular waterfront precinct.

The new venue’s green light will be a boost for the area as the tourism industry gears up for a bumper dry season.

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