Welcome back to a pizza-inspired instalment of Boothby’s Melbourne briefing.
In this briefing:
- Why hospo veteran Michael Bascetta is taking over a pizzeria;
- A preview of Magma’s drinks program thanks to Riley King;
- A much-loved local gin brand turns 10;
- One of Melbourne’s longest running bars wants your questionable photos;
Much-loved Fitzroy North pizzeria Magma will reopen next Tuesday, October 13th after being taken over by hospitality veteran Michael Bascetta of The Pinnacle (and former co-owner of Capitano, Bar Liberty, and Worksmith). The fundamentals of Magma — great pizza in a fun, community environment — will remain unchanged, but a fresh coat of paint and an increased focus on drinks is set to breathe new life into this neighbourhood favourite.
Ahead of next week’s relaunch, I caught up with Michael and Pizzeria Magma assistant venue manager Riley King, who’s heading up the bev program, to see what’s in store.
FRED SIGGINS: Tell me how this project came about, especially so soon after taking over The Pinnacle?
MICHAEL BASCETTA: Coming out of Capitano two years ago, I’ve always wanted to do another pizza place, to fill that pizza-shaped void. John-Paul Aziz [Magma’s previous owner] wanted his venue to keep its concept and basic identity. He wanted someone who would continue his legacy because the venue means a lot to him. So rather than it going up on the open market, he’s allowing us to take it forward into its next phase, rather than risking it being completely changed.
For me, the fact that it’s 300 metres down the road from The Pinny, I would hate to have to walk past every day and think, “oh, that would’ve been a great opportunity.” The process only started a few months ago, and we’ve only been here [at The Pinny] for eight months, but we love Fitzroy North, so I thought, well, if we do another venue just a few metres up the road, even better.
FRED SIGGINS: And so this new iteration of Magma is going to have a bit more of a drinks focus than previously? Can you tell me a bit about that?
MICHAEL BASCETTA: When we first started Capitano, cocktails were a cornerstone of the concept. It was amazing working with Darren Leaney [now at Caretaker’s Cottage] to develop the list there, and seeing how well those drinks worked with the style of service and the food and the space, so it felt like a big step in the right direction to do something similar with Magma. And Riley, who worked at Capitano for a while, has been with us from the start at The Pinny, but his cocktail skills are a bit underused at the pub. There’s a huge opportunity for him to use those skills at the new venue, and having a space for him to spread his wings is wonderful.
FRED SIGGINS: Will you be running any fun specials or opening offers people should know about?
MICHAEL BASCETTA: Our Tuesday night special is a pizza and a glass of wine for $28, so we’ll be doing some early week stuff like that. But also having the park right out front is great [Magma sits directly next to a wide grassy area of the Inner Circle Railway Linear Park]. We can do take away pizza and we have a bottle shop licence, so folks can grab a bottle of wine or a few beers and have a little picnic once the sun comes out properly.
FRED SIGGINS: That sounds delightful, I’ll see you there. And so Riley, for folks who don’t know you, tell us a bit about your previous experience?
RILEY KING: I moved to Melbourne from Perth about four years ago. I started out at Byrdi where I learned plenty about how Melbourne hospitality works, and since then I’ve worked at Capitano, Figlia, Molly, and then when Molly closed I went to Cordelia in Carlton where I was assistant venue manager and bar manager. When I saw the job at The Pinnacle come up, I jumped at the opportunity to work with Michael again.
FRED SIGGINS: And what’s been your approach to the cocktails at Magma?
RILEY KING: My approach is to have no approach. I just thought to myself, what would I want to drink with pizza? It’s not the only food we’re going to have, there will be pasta and snacks, too, but pizza was my starting point.
I like to work around seasonality, and I used to work with Kayla Saito a couple of years ago so that’s really when seasonality became a key point of inspiration for me. I’m also trying to use as many Victorian products as possible, especially in terms of the spirits. I love international stuff, but we do so many amazing things right here that I wanted to highlight that.
All the drinks will be recognisable and not intimidating, but still with something a little different in every one. For example, we’re making our own lemon myrtle limoncello from scratch that will go in a Spritz with prosecco. Also, I think the Americano is the world’s best cocktail so I’m always going to have a seasonal version of that on the list.
FRED SIGGINS: What aspect of the drink are you modifying to make it seasonal?
RILEY KING: At this stage, I’m playing with the soda aspect. We’re doing a passionfruit and marigold soda for the sunny weather, but that will change in the future. I want to be able to play with every aspect of the drink depending on what I can find and what’s in season.
FRED SIGGINS: That sounds so good. What else can we expect?
RILEY KING: We’re doing two Martinis, a vodka and a gin, both 50/25/25 with vermouth and Pennyweight fino, and both will be served over ice.
FRED SIGGINS: I love that. I like drinking my Manhattans on ice so they last a little longer — blasphemous, I know! And with that vermouth and sherry-heavy formula and putting them on ice, you’re really turning your Martini into more of an aperitif drink than just an excuse for two shots of cold gin.
What about the wine list? What can we expect there?
RILEY KING: With wine we’re leaning more towards Italian varietals and trying to focus primarily on Victorian and other Australian producers first and foremost, but anything that goes well with food is my remit, so there’s no limits. There’s a syrah from Morocco I’m excited for. We’ll also have two wines on tap, both available by carafe, and one rotating beer on tap. We’re opening with Sailor’s Grave, but we want to see what our customers respond to.
FRED SIGGINS: And while I get that it’s a restaurant first and foremost, are you happy for people to just pop in for a drink at the bar?
RILEY KING: Absolutely. There are so many bar seats that if you just want to pop in to share a pizza or have a couple of snacks at the bar, there are plenty of options to do that, and if people just want to have a drink I’ll be very happy to serve them a couple of Martinis and send them on their way.
Pizzeria Magma reopens at 305 St Georges Rd, Fitzroy North on Tuesday 13 October and will be open evenings Tuesday to Saturday, with lunchtime Saturday hours to be added at a future date.
Around The Bars
An antherone, and an antherone. Distilling dynamic duo Dervilla McGowan, PhD. and her lovely husband and reformed bartender Sebastian Reaburn are celebrating 10 years of their fantastic gin brand, Anther, this weekend at the distillery in Geelong. On Saturday, October 10 from 7:30pm there will be free welcome cocktails, party prices at the bar, samples of the brand new Anther Wild Agave and an Anther Archive action for limited-edition, back-vintage bottles. Tickets are free, but space is limited so you must register here. Happy birthday and congrats to two of the nicest (and smartest) distillers in the game.
Double Exposure. Speaking of birthdays, Double Happiness in the Melbourne CBD is turning 25(!!) this November, and the team have put a call out on social media to collect photos and stories of good times past. “The older, messier and more questionable, the better,” they say. And if you ever worked at Double Happiness, they especially want to hear from you. Send them a DM on Instagram at @2xhappiness and share your memories from one of Melbourne’s longest running bars.
No longer a lark. After 20 years at the foundational Tasmanian whisky distillery, Lark, master distiller Chris Thomson is set to leave the distillery to start a brand of his own. “Almost 20 years ago, I set out with a pretty audacious ambition for what Lark could become,” he says in a statement released Monday. “Today, I feel like I’m standing on top of the mountain I set out to climb all those years ago. For almost as long, I’ve dreamed of creating a whisky brand of my own. But I always felt I couldn't do that until Lark’s future was assured. I believe that point has now come.”
Entries into the fifth annual Boothby Drink of the Year Awards are open now, and close on October 16. There are two new awards this year — Martini of the Year presented by Sunchaser, and Non-Alc of the Year presented by Re’al — so get your entries in ASAP. Learn more at boothby.com.au/drinkoftheyear.
