The Kailis family may be renowned for fresh seafood, but one young family member is striving to create a new product category – pizza.
The Kailis family may be renowned for fresh seafood, but one young family member is striving to create a new product category – pizza.
George Kailis, the son of Kailis Fish Market Cafe director, Victor, has taken New York’s love affair with the pizza slice, Italy’s flair for pizza making, and fresh Australian produce to create a new business concept.
The new NYC Pizza outlet at QV1 is the first of many stores planned for Perth and the east coast.
George Kailis, also a director of Kailis Fish Market Cafe at Fremantle Boat Harbour, has been developing his pizza bar concept for the past three years.
“It came from a concept in New York. I lived there for a while and they are everywhere over there,” he said.
“On Manhattan Island there must be 250 of them; they are on every street corner and it’s mainly because there are not many families living there. It’s young single executives who don’t need to order a whole pizza,” Mr Kailis said.
“There’s nowhere to get pizza for lunch in Australia where you can grab a slice. It was more about the method and the style of eating pizza that I was after.”
The packaging includes triangle-shaped boxes to fit individual slices, which are stacked with fresh produce and have minimal grease.
And like most food-to-go shops these days, NYC Pizza also offers salad options.
The concept seems to have struck a chord with busy office workers, if the numbers queuing for a slice of pizza during a recent lunchtime rush is any example.
“In the US it wasn’t good pizza, it was very oily because they put so much cheese on it,” Mr Kailis said.
“In Italy when you eat a pizza you don’t feel bad afterward and it’s because they use fresh produce. We’re doing that here. We’re not using oils and we’re using fresh local meat, Kailis seafood, and fresh toppings. We’re not getting bags of pre-chopped produce, and you can taste the difference.
“We don’t want to be fatty, we want people to come three times a week if they want to.
“But we’re not doing it to be healthy, we’re doing it because that’s how they do it in Rome.”
Mr Kailis has employed a former Italian master pizza chef in the kitchen, who is working overtime to meet demand from more than just the lunchtime crowd.
The business is also servicing the long-hours worked by many people in neighbouring office blocks.
“We weren’t going to open late but a lot of people were working late and asking for the service,” Mr Kailis said.
“We are delivering the pizzas to lots of different offices. We’re also doing a lot of catering for office functions.”
Mr Kailis said he was looking for other sites in the CBD to open new NYC stores and was also considering a store in Sydney within a year.
NYC also does a breakfast trade with a dedicated menu, including a vegemite pizza slice, which is apparently a top seller.
