This week marks the first anniversary of when Goodslice opened the doors to it's pizzeria, graduating from a humble food truck into a fully fledged restaurant and bar.
So, we thought this was a good opportunity to share our story of where it all began, and also a little bit about our owners Nick Jovic & Flavio Giannino.
Goodslice started life as a food truck doing the rounds on the Sunshine Coast circuit. It came about from Nick's passion for Naples-inspired pizza, which he simply couldn't find on the Coast when he moved there in 2018.
Coming from London he'd seen a rise in popularity of great pizza joints that combined authentic methods of pizza making with modern flavours, in hip and trendy venues that focussed almost solely on pizza, rather than all types of Italian food.
Nick was trained in the artisan method of Pizza Napoletana by Naples legend Peppe Miele, who is also the President of the AVPN [Americas Division] - an association that is supported by UNESCO to promote and protect the heritage of true Neapolitan pizza around the world since 1984. The Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) has 11 pages of regulations that specify exactly how true Neapolitan pizza should taste, smell, appear and be made.
The core principals of the AVPN's 'Pizza Napoletana' are at the heart of Goodslice's ethos. In the way they make the dough, stretch it, cook-it and the quality of ingredients used, but the variety of pizzas on the menu come from their own flair for modern flavours and tastes. That's where head chef and co-owner Flavio Giannino comes into his own.
Flavio was born in Napoli. He started work in his family’s restaurant from the age of 15 and worked his way up from the bottom (Gavetta as they call it in Napolitan), to be the head pizza chef in several pizzeria’s in the heart of Napoli (the holy grail when it comes to pizza).
He then travelled around Europe and South America working as head pizzaiolo in some of the best pizzeria's around. He has also been instrumental in helping to set up new restaurants, and train and teach masterclasses in this traditional art of Neapolitan pizza making. He has always had a burning desire to start his own pizzeria, and settled here in Australia on the Sunshine Coast 5 years ago.
Towards the end of 2021, Nick and Flavio went into business together, and set about making Goodslice into what it is today. Which despite the challenges that any small business faces in its first year of life, combined with a worldwide pandemic, they haven't done too badly. The pizzeria is consistently full of happy customers who return again and again, and the reviews speak for themselves.
So, this week in February 2023 they are celebrating its first birthday, and look forward to many more to come.
