Empire Bay-based Napoletana pizza restaurant Sorrento Pizzeria has been recognised by global fintech company Square.
The pizzeria is one of nine Australian winners of The Square 50, an annual awards program dedicated to championing businesses around the world that are changing the entrepreneurial game in their respective fields.
Businesses were nominated for their innovation, growth, sustainability efforts, community impact and experience curation.
With thousands of nominations received worldwide, 50 businesses were selected as winners.
Owner and head chef Elia ‘Luigi’ Eliopoulou said receiving the accolade was unbelievable.
“It speaks volumes to the authenticity of our pizza and the community we’ve created,” he said.
The story of Sorrento Pizzeria is intriguing.
Eliopoulou serves pizzas made to a recipe handed down from his grandmother.
“My grandmother, who grew up in Naples, started the tradition more than 100 years ago when she was taught how to bake bread and how to make pizza,” he said.
“It was a traditional time when the husbands worked all day and the wives provided food for the family.
“My father was born in Lyon, France, after my grandmother met my grandfather when visiting Naples as a merchant sailor.
“They fell in love and my grandmother moved to France.
“My father eventually emigrated to Australia, falling in love with my mother in Marrickville, with my Nonna’s pizza recipe handed down to my mother.
“I ate that pizza every Friday night from the age of five.”
Several years ago, after a successful corporate career of more than 20 years in Sydney, Eliopoulou decided to move his family to the Central Coast and begin the process of opening his own pizza restaurant, to share the authentic food on which he was raised.
“We made the sea change so our children could have a better life on the Coast and I decided I wanted to share our traditional food with others,” he said.
“I started with a pasta joint at Erina and Sorrento opened just before the second COVID lockdown in 2021.”
The first two years of operation were a battle for survival.
“We opened the restaurant and seven weeks later we went into lockdown,” Eliopoulou said.
“We were just hanging on to survive and, like many others, we started doing takeaway food for contactless delivery.
“Even after dining out was allowed again, people were still afraid to go out.
“Our second year was all about trying to establish ourselves.
“Then my mother got cancer and our third year saw her going through chemotherapy; we lost her at the end of the year.
“Our story is one of hanging on for dear life and finding different ways to share our family history and educate people on true pizza with quality ingredients.
“Our business is all about community.”
Eliopoulou takes pop-ups to surrounding communities to help spread the message about his delicious pizzas.
“My late mother Stella was the inspiration for Sorrento and taught me everything I know about resilience, traditional Napoletana pizza and the importance of building community – this award is for her,” he said.
A fourth generation is now embracing the pizza tradition, with Eliopoulou’s daughter Sophie, 12, and Jack, 9, being part of family business.
As for the name of the restaurant, while Eliopoulou’s grandmother was raised as an orphan in Naples, her parents are thought to have come from Sorrento.
“The restaurant is also on Sorrento Rd and Empire Bay was once known as Sorrento Estate,” Eliopoulou said.
“It just seemed meant to be.”