The team behind the Bellezza Group has helped transform the café and food scene in Brisbane delivering a string of establishments including Bar Pacino, Bellezza Espresso Bar, Espresso Veloce, 11th Hour Catering, Short Street Espresso, Chocolate Soldier, Punch Espresso Bar and Café Pacino. Comprising of father and son duo Jimmy and Giuseppe and cousin James the trio continue to revolutionise Brisbane’s food scene with their newest venture, Santa Monica.

Located on the corner of Edward and Anne Street in Brisbane’s CBD, Santa Monica transports you to bay side Los Angeles. With hut-style booths, banana-leaf wallpaper and a focus on laid back casual dining, Santa Monica is serving up American-style fare comprising of gourmet pizzas, American-style burgers, cocktails and imported beers.

“The business ethos is all about developing relationships and investing in staff. We work really hard, have lots of fun and as a result have really rewarding jobs,” said Kyran, Restaurant Manager.

“Being located in the CBD means that our patrons are busy corporates and are on time constraints,” explains Kyran. “For breakfast and lunch service we push hard and make sure we get them out quickly. The entire set up needs to be functional and the kitchen equipment needs to support volume production and quick service.”

Sam Ibriham from SNP and Nathan Young from Reward worked closely with Giuseppe to transform the previous internet café site into a bustling tropical oasis.

“We worked with the Bellezza Group right from the beginning; they had a clear idea of the concept and then from there came the look and then the design. Giuseppe is a very hands-on CEO and he was very involved in the fitout of the kitchen. He visited the Comcater Sales and Demonstration Kitchen in Maurarrie Brisbane with Nathan (Reward Distribution) and explored the capabilities of the commercial kitchen equipment at length to ensure that they were going to meet the brief,” explains Sam.

Garland commercial grills were selected as the workhorse for the kitchen.

“The Garland Grill gets slammed, we are a burger bar and that thing cooks up a lot of burgers. I really don’t know how it keeps up with the demand. Over Christmas we were doing over 300 covers at lunch,” said Kyran.

The Bellezza group are taking over Brisbane’s hospitality scene, one creative outlet at a time. Keep your eye on the lookout, who knows where and when their next venture will be!