Paloma Pizza Bar Stretches into Hawthorn

Long before Matt and Kael Sahely opened restaurants of their own, they were regulars at Zia’s Pizza in Hawthorn. Growing up around the corner, the brothers often had family dinners there. When the site became available, it was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

“It was a big part of our childhood,” Kael says. “We’d spoken about that space for years. We felt that if it ever did [become available], we’d just go for it.”

As the sons of a chef, the Sahelys grew up surrounded by food. Over 15 years, they’ve opened a string of successful venues separately and together, including Vacation Coffee and Neighbourhood in Armadale, and St Pauls General Store and Nora’s on the Mornington Peninsula. 

Paloma Pizza is a proper neighbourhood restaurant, equally suited to a quick takeaway pizza after work as it is to a long celebratory dinner with family and friends.

Familiar favourites from Nora’s, like the vodka rigatoni finished with stracciatella and the Robertas-inspired sopressa pizza with hot honey and stracciatella, have made the move to Hawthorn.  New dishes include veal cotoletta with lemon and watercress, and a whole flounder with lemon butter sauce and Sicilian olives.

“We’re not trying to knock people’s socks off,” Kael says. “It needs to be something you can have regularly a couple times a week if need be.”

Behind that simplicity is plenty of care. Gnocchi are handmade, ragu simmers for 12 hours, and the pizza dough undergoes a 48-hour ferment before reaching the oven.

The drinks list follows the same easygoing philosophy, with cocktails including the Margarita and Americano, and a Sicilian Paloma with gin, blood orange and Campari. There’s also a considered wine list focused on organic Italian varieties.

The restaurant’s interiors were designed by Kael’s wife, Rebecca, who also created the branding and logo. Existing architectural features, including the soaring ceilings and original archways, have been paired with dark timber finishes, ambient lighting and an intentional seating layout that keeps the kitchen and bar in view from every table.

As the evening rolls in, the lights dim and the music lifts, shifting the room from relaxed family diner to a livelier neighbourhood restaurant. The brothers hope it becomes the kind of place families return to regularly, just as his family once did at Zia’s.

“It’s a neighbourhood restaurant that people can build into their lives and create great memories at,” Kael says.

Paloma Pizza Bar
93–95 Riversdale Road, Hawthorn
(03)9088 0277

Hours
Tue to Thu 4.30pm–10pm
Fri 3.30pm–10pm
Sat 12.30pm–3pm & 4.30pm–10pm

palomapizzabar.com.au