By Emily-Rose Toohey
4Stagioni Pizza owners Ciro and Melinda Borrelli have been catering and operating in and around Warwick from a mobile trailer over the past eight years and three months ago, the pizzeria decided to settle at Killarney Bowls Club as a permanent restaurant.
After opening for two nights a week and despite having a full house and numerous takeaways on most occasions, the couple has decided to step away from the venture – Saturday night marked its final night in Killarney.
“I was hoping this place would do well because I like it (they even redecorated the space), but compared to how much money I was making with pizzas in Warwick, it’s not even close,” he said.
“But nothing happens for no reason, I believe there’s a reason for everything.”
As a result, the couple has their sights set on a new business in Warwick and despite the venture still being in the early stages, Ciro said they have purchased the Subway space on Albion Street (the existing Subway is set to move to a new complex).
“It’s all very early stages and business-wise, it would be silly to walk away from a bigger income,” he said.
“It won’t be as much as a restaurant – I want to do more takeaway, you can eat there as well, but nothing fancy.
“There’ll be coffee, cakes and what I can’t do with a trailer, and we’re going to back away from the catering and events for now, to set the place up as soon as I get the keys.”
When reflecting upon their experience in Killarney, Ciro said that they were first approached by a woman at the Bowls Club saying they had an empty kitchen and offered them the space.
“We were looking forward to that next step,” he said.
“I’ve been doing pizzas for the last 10 years and I wanted to do something different, and when the opportunity arose, we went for it.”
Prior to moving to Warwick and setting up shop near IGA, the couple were based in Sydney and Ciro said after buying the trailer initially, they never looked back.
“We’ve just grown and grown,” he said.
“We have a little trailer to do catering then a big one to do events – I got it specially built with the oven sticking out the back and everything.”
Furthermore, Melinda echoed this sentiment and said they have seen a fantastic following of loyal customers.
“Thank you to everyone who travelled out to Killarney to see us, hopefully, they’ll see us again,” she said.
In terms of establishing their business in a more permanent fashion, Ciro said it will be great to bring some Italian food to town.
“If it works out we should have the keys by the end of September,” he said.
“We’re looking at buying a pizza oven that’s $60,000 alone, and takes up to 20 weeks from order to delivery.
“In the meantime, I’m thinking of setting up in Warwick again with the trailer to get some money coming in and then setting up the place.”
Looking ahead, Ciro said they were hoping that the store will be open for six days a week – something more sustainable for a larger staff.
“I do everything myself, including my own sauce,” he said.
But for now, fans of 4Stagioni Pizza will have to wait with bated breath to see the outcome of this venture and its finalisation.
