Bondi Pizza First Birthday Media Event, Westfield Bondi Junction (24 Aug 2011)

Shop 6009 Level 6, Westfield Centre
500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction NSW 2022
http://www.bondipizza.com.au

Happy 1st Birthday Bondi Pizza

Thanks to Caroline from CNR Communications via Jai Evans of Evans Media for inviting me along to the 1st Birthday celebrations of Bondi Pizza. To be honest I never knew this restaurant and bar existed while checking out movies upstairs at Event Cinemas. It's a very impressive space of two floors with nice decor including an open air terrace with views towards the harbour. Most of the service on the night seemed pretty friendly and helpful except for the initial unwelcome from an unhelpful service guy (perhaps manager?) at the start of the red carpet entrance. He first tried to turn me away with others as we stood around waiting for the entry to open by saying they'll be open tomorrow. I explained I'm here for the birthday event which he replied you need a ticket to get in — which you actually didn't because it all seemed to be via rsvping. I then said I should be on the guest list at which point he wandered off to get the iPad guest list ladies to start letting people in. Thankfully my rsvp was on the guest list — phew! I hope this guys attitude isn't indicative of what others may experience.

Apart from the initial entry hurdle (which gets a thumbs down) the rest of the night went really well. Drinks and food seemed to flow freely amongst the crowd and the ambience and music had a great party atmosphere. My pizza favourites of the night were Grilled Chilli Prawn and Grilled Chicken Pancetta and as promoted the bases were pretty thin but not as thin as Mad Pizza. One the way out I thankfully tried the Arancini Balls which were also good. It definitely made me want to come back to try more of the menu at a more leisurely time while sitting down at the table. At around 8 pm a surprise flash mob of dancers appeared. It was very entertaining as they came down the stairs and mixed with the guests — all cameras were out then to capture the moment. As a side note I've never seen so many short dresses and high heels except for at a fashion parade. It definitely made me feel a little bit shorter.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice decor and space, Quite yummy pizzas, Function space available, Open terrace area, Plenty of seating options

CONS: Pizzas aren't particularly cheap, I felt pretty short and underdressed amongst the many high heeled guests, One guy needed a lesson in customer service

WORTH TRYING: Grilled Chilli Prawn pizza, Grilled Chicken Pancetta pizza, Arancini Balls

MUST TRY: Revisiting to try other dishes on the menu

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Entrance and guest list of iPads

Red carpet interviewer with killer legs — who are you?

Oopsy! We need to move the red carpet and the event is supposed to be open by now.

Margarita classic pizza - Roma tomato, fresh Italian buffalo mozzarella, shaved parmesan & basil ($19.90)

Grilled Chilli Prawn signature pizza - Marinated chilli prawns, roasted capsicum, basil, roma tomato & pesto sauce with a side of our famous chilli sauce ($24.90)

WORTH TRYING :-)

The True Vegetarian - Goats curd base, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, roast pumpkin, balsamic onions, fresh tomato, kalamata olives, roasted pinenuts, shaved parmesan, pesto sauce, balsamic reduction & parmesan sauce ($23.90)

Pepperoni classic pizza - Traditional Italian pepperoni, roma tomato, buffalo mozzarella & fresh mint ($21.90)

Grilled Chicken Pancetta signature pizza - Marinated grilled chicken, pancetta (grilled bacon), fresh tomato, rocket & our homemade BBQ style sauce ($23.90)

Arancini Balls - Fried risotto balls with Fontina, tomato, herbs & fetta, served with your choice of chilli mayo or aioli ($7.90)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Bar and welcome drinks

Absolut Berry Acai vodka cocktails

Grandin sparkling and Santa Vittoria

The only time I've seen this many high heels and short dresses is at a fashion parade

Nice decor

Upstairs bar and seating

Happy 1st Birthday signing wall and outside terrace

Flash mob dance entertainment

Flash mob official media video — no pizzas or drinks were hurt in the performance

DJ and official photographers

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