Chef Hem is opening Sliceria, his third pizza business in Canberra. Photos: Lucy Ridge.
Sliceria is the latest project by Canberra’s busiest pizzaiolo Thapa Magar Hemnath, better known as Chef Hem.
In contrast to Italian restaurant Pizza Artigiana in Jamison and food truck Hem and Co, Sliceria will be a lunchtime grab-n-go affair in City West.
Speaking to Chef Hem on site ahead of the opening, it was clear that the people around this part of town are looking forward to seeing the doors open. It’s been a long time coming, initially Hem hoped to open in April but he’s finally ready for the doors to open on Monday (7 July).
Hem told Region he’s received a lot of support for the project.
“People are really keen, so the main thing for me is just to give back to the community,” he said.
“And to create something fun. People in the city want something new, something different. They want it to be quick, and they just want to grab and go.”
$10 for a slab of margherita pizza is a great deal for lunch.
To celebrate his opening week he’ll be giving away 150 free slices of his pizza al taglio – Roman-style pizza by the slice – on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He wants to start with a bang and get people excited about his new venue.
Despite owning two other pizza businesses, Sliceria will not be a carbon copy of what he’s done before. Hem explained that this style of pizza requires a totally different kind of dough which takes 72 hours to ferment.
“It’s light, it’s crispy and even though the dough is a bit thick, it’s still very airy so it’s easy to digest. You don’t feel heavy or bloated after you eat it,” he said.
Along with what seemed like half the city, I was queuing for a slice on opening day.
The first 150 free slices were snapped up quickly, but $10 is a steal for a hefty slab of Sliceria’s very tasty margherita.
A few other flavours were being sold as quickly as they were pulled from the oven. A slice of the truffle shuffle or meat me in Rome will set you back all of $14.
A sandwich worth queueing for (although I’ll admit the photo doesn’t do it full justice).
In addition to the Roman-style slices, he’ll also be making schiaciatta, Tuscan-style sandwiches made on a thin foccacia bread.
In addition to my pizza slice I also waited for a fresh schiacciata sandwich and boy, was it worth it. Piles of shaved mortadella, fresh, creamy straciatella cheese and a pistachio pesto base on fresh focaccia: this is a sandwich worth waiting in line for.
The fridge is stacked with big rounds of mortadella, slabs of prosciutto and plenty of provolone.
In the future there’s the option to expand the menu with pasta or other dishes – there’s a full commercial kitchen out the back – but Hem wants to keep things simple for now.
There will also be delivery options for busy office workers who can’t make it to stand in the queue.
Sliceria is at Unit 7, 115 Marcus Clarke Street. It is open from Monday to Friday, 11:30 am to 8 pm. Follow Sliceria on Facebook or Instagram.
Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Region Canberra.
