A former Bourke Street Bakery chef has opened a late-night New York-style pizza shop on Oxford Street, promising 'no flop' pie by the slice. Continuing the long and slightly dubious tradition of late-night pizza-by-the-slice joints on the party mile, Paulie's Pizza is a far cry from the usual greased-up post-party slices, groaning under the weight of cabanossi and barbecue sauce (not that there's anything wrong with that). Instead, after eating his way through "thousands" of NYC slices, chef Paul Allam has crafted pizza built around 24-hour fermented dough and a crisp base, making a proper foldable slice. "If it flops, it's not it. It's got to hold. Hot, crispy, foldable every single time," says Allam. The menu consists of a short, sharp list of 18-inch pizzas (sold by the slice, or whole), ranging from margherita, pepperoni, mushroom with stracciatella, spicy vodka, and the Grandma Special of pork and fennel sausage with pickled peppers. Choose your own adventure with a choice of sauces — we're thinking Paulie's Fire Sauce though we could be tempted with the Green Goddess after a schooner or two. Speaking of booze, the liquor license is on its way so keep your eyes peeled for beers and wine landing soon. In the meantime, you'll have to be quite content with an early morning coffee to wash down the breakfast list, grab-and-go small-batch pastries, baked fresh in-house. We're talking custard tarts, cinnamon and cardamom buns, shakshuka flatbread, matcha or chocolate and hazelnut croissants, or an egg and bacon flatbread from 7am. Don't feel like cooking tonight? Outstanding news; red-sauce classics like meatballs, mac and cheese, and eggplant parmigiana are in Paulie's very own frozen food section, ready for the oven. The space itself brings a blend of vintage New York pizza parlour with a very Sydney lilt, with a mix of standing and banquet seating, marble countertops, and burnt-orange checkered tiles throughout. Keep your ears open for classic East Coast hip-hop in the air mingled with the chatter of guests and the scraping of the pizza paddles as hot fresh discs crank out of the kitchen. Currently in its soft-launch era, Paulie's Pizza is open Mon-Wed 7am-10pm and Thurs-Sat 7am-1am. This is one for the (almost) 24-hour party people, and a cracking sign of an infamous revelry zone waking up. Imagery: Alan Benson
