The Woodstock Story As pioneers of Wood Fired Pizza in Melbourne and Australia the Woodstock restaurants have become an icon with numerous awards and industry recognition. Their traditional Sicilian dishes and signature Roman style pizzas have been passed on to the owner Tony Cannata, from his family, since their migration to Australia dating back to the early 1920 s. With a passion for quality and focus on family-style cooked meals, the Woodstock family have been sticking to a recipe of freshness, originality and tradition in the restaurant industry for 25 years.
Tony Mr. Woodstock Cannata Tony is a multi-award winning Pizzaioli and one of the best in Australia and on the world stage having competed and represented the Woodstock brand and Australia in the World Pizza Championships in Napoli, Italy; Parma, Italy and Las Vegas, USA. He is a multiple-award winning and current Australian Pizza Champion and Australia s top Pizzaioli over the past three years. He has won a Top 10 in the World placing for the past three years, since he began competing. Tony has already been invited to compete in Vegas again and he will be returning to Napoli and Parma in 2016. With 25 years of experience, pioneering the Wood Fired Pizza in Melbourne and that classic Italian charm, Tony embodies everything the Woodstock brand is famous for.
Roman Style Pizza Bringing the delicious taste of the right balance of chewy, silky and crispy wood fire pizzas, the Pizza Romana is a highly flavoursome pizza with a thick doughy base that can stand up to a multitude of big, bold toppings. The thick yet crunchy crust is the delicious Roman answer to the simpler Neapolitan elastic thin-crust pizzas and the thick and soft Sicilian-style. From the unique and complex dough preparation process, to the rich toppings, the Roman Pizza is all about quality. While the Neapolitan-style dough requires a single stage fermentation process rising at room temperature and being used the same day, the Roman style requires a very highly refined flour which undergoes three separate stages of fermentation lasting from 60 to 90 hours at a cool 5 C. Once the dough is ready, the Romans top the thicker base with richer flavours and bake the pizza at a 345 to 385 C as opposed to the much hotter Neapolitan temperatures. A cooking time of only 3-4 minutes gives the outer crust a softness
The Décor Woodstock prides itself on delighting and impressing lucky guests not only through the delicious food but by bringing that authentic Sicilian charm to them night in and night out. Each restaurant has a distinctive Mediterranean feel and atmosphere. The walls of the original Woodstock are adorned with family photos and famous friends' pictures, while red and white table cloths line the tables. This interior transports you back in time, and takes you to another location, back home to Italy or perhaps a New York restaurant from the 50's. The detailed décor of the wall tiles, crockery and marble bench tops in the Pizzicheria restaurant meanwhile shows a heavier influence of the beauty of Rome, Bologna style trattoria and the culture of Sicily, mixing the old with the new. The Essendon restaurant brings the European summer to Melbourne. With open glass walls and plentiful outdoor seating it creates that relaxed atmosphere throughout the day and follows up with breathtaking sunset views.
The Future of Woodstock A fourth Woodstock restaurant will open its doors in 2016 at the prestigious Chadstone Shopping Centre, the biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere and the fourth largest in the world. Woodstock continues to support the local communities through an ongoing presence at various Melbourne festivals with Woodstock branded pop-up tents and are in the process of expanding the brand inter-state and on an international level.