Michele Express Newtown: Launch PR for Naples’ Most Famous Pizza Nametreet Food
Restaurant launch PR, media relations and influencer marketing in Sydney
Client in 2026 | Current Client | Launch PR, Media Relations & Influencer Marketing
The Background
Some brands need an introduction. This one needs a queue barrier. Michele Express Newtown is the street food little sister of L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, the Naples institution that has been making pizza since 1870 and became a global name when it appeared alongside Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love. With more than 80 locations worldwide and an acclaimed Sydney restaurant already trading on Pitt Street, the Da Michele name carries 150 years of Neapolitan pizza tradition wherever it lands.
Michele Express is something different. Opening at 280 King Street, Newtown in August 2026, it’s built around the street food culture of Naples rather than the sit-down restaurant experience. The hero is pizza a portafoglio, fresh Neapolitan pizza folded into quarters and eaten by hand, alongside traditional fritti like the frittatina, fresh pasta, homemade lasagna and Italian desserts. Led by Alfredo Repole, Head Pizza Chef of Da Michele Australia, the kitchen uses premium ingredients imported directly from Italy, from Agerola fiordilatte to Italian tomatoes, at prices that honour the Neapolitan idea of pizza per tutti: pizza for everyone.
The Brief: Launching a Global Name in Sydney’s Inner West
Launch a 19 seat, takeaway-first venue in one of Sydney’s most fiercely independent food neighbourhoods, on a tight runway, with a brand name that carries big expectations. The challenge isn’t getting attention for a Da Michele opening; it’s making sure a global icon lands in Newtown feeling like a local, not a franchise. And then keeping the momentum going long after the opening week buzz, because in hospitality, the launch is the easy part.
Our Role: Restaurant Launch PR and Beyond
The Atticism is leading the full launch campaign and ongoing hospitality PR for Michele Express Newtown, from pre-opening anticipation through opening week and into the months that follow.
Media Relations & Launch Coverage. We’re managing the launch story across Sydney’s dining and lifestyle media, from opening announcements to first tastes, with every pitch tailored to the individual journalist rather than blasted from a press release cannon. Because the venue seats just 19, media visits are choreographed as staggered sittings and individual appointments, an approach that suits both the venue and the way food journalists actually prefer to work.
Brand Storytelling & Chef Profiling. Behind the folded pizza is a story worth telling: 150 years of family tradition, a chef bringing the food he grew up with to the Inner West, and street food dishes most of Sydney hasn’t met yet. We’re building Alfredo Repole’s profile as the authority on Neapolitan street food in Sydney and introducing audiences to the culture behind the menu, one frittatina at a time.
Influencer & Community Engagement. Rather than paid influencer campaigns, we’re running a contra program that puts Michele Express in front of the people Newtown actually listens to: local creators, community voices and food lovers with real influence in the Inner West. Real people, real feeds, real opinions, exactly the way word spreads on King Street.
Launch Moments & Local Activations. From soft opening previews to giveaway moments designed to put a line down King Street, we’re building the kind of opening energy that Naples queues are famous for, right down to the culture of the queue itself.
Watch This Space
Michele Express Newtown opens at 280 King Street in August 2026, trading daily from 10am to 11pm. This is a live campaign, and we’ll update this page with the full case study and results as the story unfolds. If the line outside is anything to go by, it’ll be worth the read.
Opening a venue of your own? We handle launch PR for restaurants, bars and hospitality brands across Sydney and beyond. Get in touch to talk about your opening.
