Fitzroy North pizza restaurant Supermaxi is closing after 12 years

Rita Macali's Italian neighbourhood restaurant, Supermaxi, will close its doors in Fitzroy North on July 30, with Macali and partner Giovanni Patane beginning a new chapter, possibly outside hospitality. Patane says the decision is a happy one.

"It's all about exploring other things," he says. "We don't have any short-term plans. We want to catch up with our families. We've both got elderly parents. I've got young daughters I'd like to spend more time with."

The couple opened the restaurant in March 2010 and it quickly became a destination for the free-form, produce-driven pizzas of Macali, who started her career cooking alongside Karen Martini and at venues including Est Est Est and Lux.

This was followed by the opening of Ladro Pizzeria, which The Age Good Food Guide 2005 named Best New Restaurant. She departed as owner in 2007.

At Supermaxi, Macali cooks heartfelt Italian food largely focused on simply topped pizzas, with a handful of pasta dishes, antipasti like arancini or salumi and main courses such as cotoletta.

The room offered a fresh vision of what Italian restaurants could be, evoking a contemporary art gallery with its white walls, minimalist furnishings and terrazzo floors.

"The whole backdrop of this restaurant has been about the people," says Patane. "We wanted to open a place not cluttered with things. It was about people."

During Melbourne's lockdowns, Patane took to delivering pizzas in his vintage Alfa Romeo cars, a simple touch that brought smiles to the faces of those who opened the door.

Macali and Patane informed their staff last week of their decision to close the restaurant and the plan to put the building (but not the business) up for sale after their last day of trade.

"I enjoy every moment I'm here," says Patane. "I don't begrudge it, but now I want to do something new with my life and Rita is much the same."

Patane says the restaurant's trading hours and menu will continue as usual until close.

Open Tue-Sat 5.30pm-10.30pm until July 30.

305 St George's Road, Fitzroy North, 03 9482 2828, supermaxi.com.au