Much-Loved Pizza Joint Rosalia’s Is Reopening With Its Former Head Chef At The Helm
Molly Codyre
New Zealand Editor | Urban List
It’s safe to say 2026 has been a tumultuous year for Rosalia’s. The bakery, originally opened by Sean Bone, Bryan Anderson and Nick Fury as a kitchen to supply Bodega and Parade, quickly became its own beast, with queues down the block for its famous pizza slices, sandwiches and cannolis. Then, part way through the year, the bakery’s Instagram account disappeared and, despite rigorous efforts, was never recovered. Finally, in June, the trio decided to close, having sold both Bodega and Parade burger. Rosalia’s was no more. Until now.
There have been rumblings for a while. Movement inside the 65 Mount Eden Road shopfront. A vague new instagram account (@rosalias_lives) appeared. And then, finally, a sign: Reopening Soon, in both the window and on the account (which, at the time of posting, still doesn’t have a profile picture).
So when, exactly, is soon? And who, exactly, is behind it?
“People keep asking, ‘when is soon’?” Clark Gaudry, former pizza chef and now-owner of Rosalia’s tells me. “I can’t quite answer that yet, but I will say keep your eyes peeled.”
Gaudry tells me that, when Rosalia’s closed, he wasn’t quite ready to give up the job he’d come to love. The New Jersey-born, Philly-raised, Culinary Institute of America-trained chef first came to New Zealand while on holiday from his job cooking for a travelling circus (yes, really). He jumped around a few roles, and was just about ready to give up on a career in kitchens, when he met Vincent Michaelsen from Napier’s Vinci’s Pizza. It was life at first sight with Gaudry and pizza, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Eventually, love brought him to Auckland where he continued on the pizza train, working at Del Popolo in Hobsonville and then finally landing at Rosalia’s where he took what was meant to simply be a supply kitchen and turned it into one of the city’s favourite places to eat.
Things might not look all that different at first. They’ll open at midday for now and solely focus on pizza, garlic knots and cannoli. As things progress they’ll slowly add other elements back in. “First and foremost, I just love pizza,” Gaudry explains. “I just want to be making something that I’m proud of.”
There will be some changes to the slices. In the 3 months since Rosalia’s shut, Gaudry has embarked on a road trip around the North Island, hitting up some of the country’s best pizza joints. He’s worked a shift at his alma mater, Vinci’s, where he reminded himself he could “do multiple types of pizza”. Then it was onto Wellington where he put in a stint at Cutie Pie. And, finally, Mount Maunganui to Leopard Boy.
“I basically emailed 20 different places and the only people that replied were disciples of Tom [Kirton, Cutie Pie owner, Tommy Millions founder and ‘pizza king’ of Wellinton],” Gaudry tells me. It was essentially one long R&D session. Those learnings will be reflected in the Rosalia’s slices which will now have a slower rising dough which means more flavour and a bouncier base. Crowd favourite toppings will return, like the pepperoni with cream cheese and hot maple, and the potato with confit garlic and bechamel, but he’s also working on a few cracking vegan slices too, including a version of vodka sauce that uses cannellini beans in place of cream.
It’s quite the undertaking. When I ask Gaudry why he’s decided to revive Rosalia’s, his answer is simple. “To quote Ted Lasso, ‘pizza is life’”.
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