Campbell’s Department of Pizza

Posted on 27 October, 2020

Emily Johnson, Ricky Cole and Matt Muller have long shared a mutual obsession—with pizza.

Now the trio find themselves running a bustling new restaurant in all of their spare hours outside work—The Department of Pizza.

A long and narrow restaurant at the Campbell Shops, where the old liquor shop used to be, The Department of Pizza has high ceilings and a long bar, behind which a massive pizza oven cranks out Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza bases with minimal and ingredient-focused toppings.

Think four ingredients max, and absolutely no pineapple! We’re talking combinations such as a tomato base with fior di latte, prosciutto and roquette, or the garlic olive oil base with fior de latte, potato and rosemary.

All up there are 11 pizza options supplemented by three ridiculously moreish flatbreads including a gorgonzola and roast walnut, or a confit of garlic and cheese combo. There’s one wholesome roquette, cherry tomato and parmesan cheese salad and desserts of Nutella and strawberries or cannoli.

Emily said that their quest to become professional pizza-makers got a kick along when a family member who is a baker in the Blue Mountains shared their 30-year-old sourdough starter, which really elevates the dough to new levels.

Opening a shop-front at Campbell is, however, the culmination of more than two years of “market research” running a Department of Pizza van at the Kingston Markets and at The Pop Inn wine bar.

“We just started at the Old Bus Depot Markets on Sundays and then we started to pick up corporate events and progressed to The Pop Inn. We got busier and busier and because we were doing all the prep at home it seemed logical to look at opening a restaurant.”

Soon, however, these three pizza enthusiasts decided that the slightly neglected Campbell shops were ripe for a community-centred and up-market pizza hub.

“I mean, the whole point of pizza is to bring people together and the create a community vibe, so we figured Campbell was a great suburb to settle in.”

That ‘up-market’ pizza vibe is enhanced by a substantial local and Italian wine list, which allows customers to pop down and place their order, then pull up a stool at the long window bar and try a glass of something lovely while they wait for the hot coals to blister their pizza base to a bubbly perfection. Then they can take the rest of the bottle home with them once their pizza is out of the oven.

With space for about 20 inside and 20 outside (although that will expand once the laneway next door is cleared of building debris and can accommodate more tables) Department of Pizza has done a roaring trade in takeaway since opening in August and has been literally booked solid since its indoor furniture arrived recently, including a beautiful long communal table made by Hardwood Projects.

“The response really has been quite overwhelming since we opened,” said Emily.

The team is thinking of expanding their opening days to include Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and when Emily, Ricky and Matt can stop to take their breath and yes, they are looking at other suburbs to possible spread the pizza love in the future.