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Teachers take over Tomislav site for new pizzeria

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Left to right, Jay Boyle, Lisa Marongiu and Peter Boyle with their wood-fired oven.
Left to right, Jay Boyle, Lisa Marongiu and Peter Boyle with their wood-fired oven.Sahlan Hayes

The idea to start a restaurant can strike at unusual times, even when teaching troubled Sydney youth.

Jay Boyle and Lisa Marongiu, who have just taken the lease at the site of the hatted Tomislav restaurant in Darlinghurst, met through work.

"We were both teachers in the behavioural unit of a school in Sydney's south-west. I taught the kids how to make a wood-fire pizza oven and Lisa ran the hospitality section. The pizza was really good and Lisa and I started talking about opening our own place and found a chef," Boyle says.

Downtown, a winebar-pizza venue, will launch next month.

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The woodwork teacher fitted out the interior himself, building its mosaic-covered wood-fired oven.

Chef Tomislav Martinovic has kept a low profile since closing his restaurant at the Downtown site in late 2013.

Martinovic says plans to relaunch in the Rushcutters Bay space where Acme opened last year fell through when he fell seriously ill.

"I'm really good now. I've been consulting on everything from juices to burgers and desserts. I even spent four months perfecting the perfect banana cake."

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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