“You’re not ready yet?” chides an older gentleman as he enters (the tantalisingly close-to-open) Deli’s Continental, his hands thrown into the air in mock fury.

“Soon,” laughs Stev Makhouta. Together with Deli’s co-founder Aldo Putzu and other senior staff, he’s putting the finishing touches on their new Inglewood deli and bakery ahead of its opening next week. “Soon, soon.”

Many people, it would seem, are (im)patiently awaiting the opening of Deli’s. You can’t blame them. When Deli’s burst on to the scene in late 2020 as a daytime pop-up at Rossonero, the gents’ mighty conti rolls and doorstopper-like filled focaccias were an instant hit among local sandwich fanciers. In July, the duo announced they were leaving Maylands to build a permanent home in Inglewood that was due to open in spring. Covid, however, had other ideas, and the opening date was pushed back after numerous delays. Finally, after no small amount of patience, fine-tuning and elbow grease – and not to mention the occasional pop-up – team Deli’s is ready to welcome guests to its new HQ.

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A part of the Woolworths development at the former Bunnings Inglewood site, Deli’s Continental’s new home represents a brighter, more colourful change of scenery for Makhouta and Putzu. Rather than being hidden behind a heavy curtain, the duo will be front and centre in an airy, white-tiled storefront overlooking Beaufort Street, likely in the dedicated bakery where they’ll be mixing and baking their daily breads.

“There are no secrets here, everything is on show,” says Putzu. “We decided that we want to show everyone that we’re not joking when we say everything is made in-house.”

While the custom-designed bakery will streamline the production of Deli’s glorious rolls – crunchy of crust, chewy of crumb, fleet-footed of texture and a key factor in the sandwich’s appeal – and foccacias, it’s also allowed Deli’s to expand its offering, starting with two styles of pizza. In addition to the regular round-based pizzas they made at Rossonero, Makhouta and Putzu will also bake rectangular, Roman-style tray pizzas, similar to those offered by Rome’s legendary “pizzarium”, Bonci. Similar to the way the rolls for Deli’s contis were crisped in a hot oven, pre-baked bases will be topped to order (guests can choose from a variety of tomato- and potato-based toppings) and given a final blast in a stone-based oven before being served.

Between the various foccacias, toasties, pizzas and cookies on the opening menu, our boys will be overseeing 13 different doughs including gluten-free doughs. But while they’ll be taking the baking seriously, Makhouta and Putzu want the shop to be anything but stuffy.

“We want to be that spot where the energy is good, you know all the homies in the back and you can just come in and hang out,” says Makhouta. “We want to be the spot that’s got you covered throughout the day.”

While Makhouta and Putzu will be running the bakery side of things, Nav D’Souza has come aboard as head chef (D’Souza counts Wildflower as a former workplace and worked alongside Makhouta at Beaufort Street restaurants such as Jackson’s and El Publico) while experienced barista Davide De Noboli will oversee the cafe offering.

You couldn’t accuse team Deli’s of lacking ambition: not only will the deli trade seven days, it will open from morning till night with the offering changing throughout the day. Management already have collabs with likeminded businesses lined up and talk excitedly about regional Italian sweets and biscuits they’ll be adding to the range. They won’t be on the menu straight away but, like Makhouta said earlier: soon, soon.

Deli’s Continental opens in early March.

Deli’s Continental
2/861 Beaufort Street, Inglewood

Hours:
Daily 7am–9pm

@delis_continental