A PIZZA BRILLIANCE AT MERMAID BEACH
From authentic pizzas to more modern morsels, a tasty tradition comes alive in this little Italian kitchen, writes Sally Coates
WHEN describing Goccia Italian Pizzeria, the words roll off Anna Gazzola’s tongue.
She and her boyfriend Loris Perobello opened the Mermaid restaurant less than a fortnight ago and the passion is a big a part of it as the pizza.
“We are Italian and I can honestly say Italian people are born in the kitchen,” Anna says. “The nonnas, the mamas, we have the culture. “Food is something that is normal for us – watching our mama and nonna making pasta and all ingredients come from the garden.
“It’s important to us to keep tradition. “With us everything is 110 per cent real. We do everything from scratch, everything is homemade. We’ve had this relationship with food for a long time.”
The duo moved to the Gold Coast after a holiday romance with our city.
“We spent almost eight years in Sydney then we came up here to visit friends and we fell in love with the Gold Coast,” Anna says. “In 2015 we moved up here and worked for other people and then we finally found this little gem in Mermaid Beach. We love our shop so much.”
Understandly, the people have been flocking for pizza. Anna says you won’t find the Aussie Hawaiian on the menu. “Pizza is the thing that everyone wants to try because it’s an Italian pizzeria,” she says.
“We called all our pizzas in the Venetian dialect – we are so happy people try to pronounce it. One that people are going crazy for is the Tastasal – the meat lovers – and the other one is my boyfriend’s signature pizza Giosa – this one features bresaola, it’s a very popular meat in Italy. We don’t do chicken, avocado or pineapple on pizza, this is our choice.
“People love their Aussie way pizza and we are not trying to be disrespectful, we just want to give people real Italian food.”
They haven’t stuck strictly to the classics, opting for a few modern dishes to help diners venture out of their culinary comfort zones.
“The octopus carpaccio is something that people are like ‘Oh my god’,” Anna says.
“They get crazy for this dish. In our culture in north Italy, we cook the polenta, cut it, roll it in sunflower and fry it so it’s crispy.
“When we designed the menu we wanted to be a step forward, not just classic Italian like meatballs. Something different, something fresh.”
Anna says they’ve felt so welcome in Mermaid Beach and hope to be around for a long time.
“It was very quick for us. As soon as we found this place we started to imagine how we wanted it to look, the feeling we want to give people.
“It’s something like a home, because it’s so little, so warm it feels very familiar. Our food is something we would serve to our best friends – all quality and consistency. I know people say that, but we really mean it with all our hearts.”
Goccia Italian Pizzeria, Shop 1A-2375 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach