Opening a new restaurant is hard enough – but doing it in the middle of a lockdown takes the challenge to a whole new level. Sal Senan, Huss Rachid and his sister Amani pulled it off, opening pizza-and-wings parlour My Mother’s Cousin (MMC) in the midst of Sydney’s second wave in 2021.

The trio has created a modern take on an old-school Italian diner, featuring a deep maroon and forest-green palette. There’s vinyl-upholstered booth seating, chequered floor tiles, art deco-style pendant lights, a rounded retro bar, and a photo gallery wall of the owners’ childhood-favourite celebrities and family snaps.

Around seven pizzas ballast the menu, and a couple of those rotate based on seasonal produce. Mainstays include two 15-inch pies: cheese (fior di latte, pomodoro, fresh basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano) and the “OG Roni” pepperoni. A handful of 13-inch pizzas might include a white cheese pie or an Italian sausage number.

The secret to a good New York-style pie, the owners say, is not just about fermenting the dough for 48 hours, creating a super thin and crispy base, or using high-quality ingredients. It’s about putting their own spin on things. And one topping that’ll never make it on any MMC pizza is pineapple – the vow has even been immortalised in the eatery’s tagline: “Proudly pineapple-free since 1983”.

Chicken wings are the other highlight of the menu. They come by the half-dozen or dozen, and you can choose between crispy wings with gravy; “dry” with lime and chilli pepper; or “wet” with house-made hot sauce or sticky honey with shaved pecorino.

To drink, there’s Heaps Normal nonalc beer, fresh house-made lemonade and shakes. And for dessert, soft-serve ice-cream with house-made butterscotch sauce, and MMC’s version of a McDonald’s apple pie.