After an already bloody tough year for Melbourne hospitality, Leonardo’s Pizza Palace in Carlton was dealt another blow after a fire inside the restaurant's kitchen late on Sunday night.
The fire stemmed from an electrical issue in the kitchen and has caused severe damage to the pizzeria including expensive kitchen equipment and parts of the roof causing it to close for the foreseeable future, ‘We’ll re-open as soon as we’re able to’ said owner Guy Bentley.
Luckily no one was harmed in the fire, though this comes off the back of several tough years for the food industry. With restrictions easing last week, the Leonardo’s team were just getting back into the swing of things with a busy weekend at the pizza locale, “It was a really great weekend, people were out and about and then to have this happen just days after we open up again is pretty heartbreaking,” said Guy.
The team has started a GoFundMe campaign to support the 21 staff members of the restaurant who have now been forcibly put out of work. On the page, owners Guy Bentley and John Harper have stated that ‘the purpose of this fundraiser is to help them get through the next month or however long it takes us to re-open fully.’
As well as the Go Fund Me page you can support the Carlton pizza by picking up some of their heavy pizza aesthetic merch such as their t-shirts and tote bags so you can wear your support for the lords of the slice.
Throw your support behind these legends of Melbourne’s food community by donating to their GoFundMe here.
Here's how to get your hands on the $200 regional Victoria vouchers.
Image credit: supplied