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Do you want to be where
everybody knows your
name? Then Colombo’s
pizza restaurant is the right destination.
Over the years it has
grown to become an institution.
The Kurban’s have earned a reputation
as shrewd businessmen,
but have also retained their family
ethos and a genuine concern
for the happiness of their customers.
It all began in 1970, when parents
Raif and Antoinette Kurban made the
decision to immigrate to Australia from
Lebanon to give their six children a better
start in life. Initially, they began work
in factories and eventually branched out
and set up their own small business.
Papa was the businessman and Mama
drew upon her cookery skills to get them
going. As the children grew, Papa and
Mama grasped at the opportunity to capitalise
on the skills of the whole family
and open their first restaurant. It was in
1985 that the opportunity arose to run a
restaurant for a year and this was Al
Capone’s in Box Hill.
With the experience the boys had
gained from part-time jobs in other
restaurants, positions were easily sorted.
Simon and Gaby had worked as cooks
and continued in this area later becoming
qualified chefs. Fadi began work at a
small pizza restaurant in Camberwell at
the age of 12 and it was there that he
learned the art of making pizzas. Wally
was a natural and with Fadi, they perfected
the art of running a pizza section.
With Bill’s flair and natural ability to
relate to people, he became maitre’ d.
At the conclusion of the year at Al
Capone’s, the family stumbled across
the opportunity to buy one of the oldest
pizzerias in Melbourne, which opened in
1968. It was 1986 and the family relocated
their business to Whitehorse Road
in Balwyn - a very close-knit pocket of
the eastern suburbs of Victoria. With
their acquired knowledge and hospitality,
they soon established the small pizzeria.
The capacity of the restaurant was
only 120 seats and initially they produced
about 150 pizzas a week in conjunction
with the kitchen menu. As time
passed and people became accustomed
to the new way of dinning, the business
flourished. To accommodate the
demand, the family decided to expand
and built another level on the existing
premises. Colombo’s was now a thriving
two-storey building always bustling
with customers.
Growing up in the Balwyn area
meant growing up with Colombo’s.
Michelle, who has been working as a
waitress for the last five years, remembers
coming to the restaurant as a child.
“As a child, it was as exciting as going
into the city and far more appealing and
sophisticated than McDonald’s. I would
order spaghetti bolognaise followed by
the homemade chocolate mousse.
Fifteen years later, they still taste the
same. We used to have birthday parties
there. Wally would get everyone in the
restaurant to sing along, much to the
embarrassment of the birthday boy or
girl.” For a child, Colombo’s is a thrill
and for the adults, a relaxed, familyfriendly
environment. This is the charm
of a restaurant, which has stood the test
of time.
Over the past two years, Colombo’s
restaurant has undergone a major extension
in an attempt to accommodate the
every increasing demand for a table. To
the Kurban’s and their loyal staff’s credit,
they did not close a day while performing
the major expansion.
The restaurant was dark and atmospheric
with red brick and dark wood furniture.
The main room had low-slung
lead light shades and tiled eaves protruding
from the walls, much like an
authentic Italian Trattoria. Cosy and
loud, it was as if you had stepped into a
little Italy. However, photographs of
Lebanon shared space with photographs
of the Kurban boys with Australian
Football heroes.
Prior to the renovations, the restaurant
could seat 170. The tiny entrance
that doubled as the take-away/pizza
delivery section would spill over and out
the door with patient customers waiting
for a spare table. With the popularity of
the business growing, the brothers
decided to renovate. Surprisingly, the
additional seats were occupied with no
effort at all, bringing the total number of
seats to 330.
While the extra space proved beneficial, the Kurban’s wanted to move the
restaurant into the 21st century. Their
vision was for a modern open-plan
restaurant that could cater for traditional
al la Carte dining as well as accommodate
large functions. The focal point was
to be the fully equipped state-of-the-art
kitchen. This required leaving the old
restaurant behind and moving next door
to a larger space. The intention was to
expand the restaurant yet retain the quality
of food and service. The construction began in May 2002 and took eight
months. The car park behind the shopping strip was excavated so that
Colombo’s could be built into the incline of the land behind.
The new restaurant lies over three
levels, with the entry at street level. On
entry, patrons are still greeted with the
warmth that the original
family restaurant possessed, not to mention the ever-popular
large gelato case. A sweeping flight of stairs takes you to the mezzanine
level, from which customers have a magnificent
view of the diners below. From the mezzanine, a short flight of
stairs leads to the upper level that has room for approximately 200 diners.
The upper level gives a spectacular view
over the eastern suburbs of Victoria and
out to the surrounding hills. The new area can seat up to approximately 800,
however renovations are not completed.
Despite the extra space, there is
still a queue of hungry diners on most
Friday and Saturday nights.
The new restaurant is sprawling and
spacious and the space is broken down
into various dining areas. Diners at the
front of the restaurant enjoy the fantastic
view out onto Whitehorse Road where
they can watch the traffic and unique
Melbourne trams trundle by. In the summer,
the floor to ceiling windows can be
opened so customers can relish in the
cool evening breeze as they eat.
The pizza delivery/take-away section
has been revamped and now houses
two magnificent ovens that can churn
out approximately 400 pizzas per hour.
Colombo’s is currently making 6,000 to
8,000 pizza’s a week. The combination
of stainless steel and lime, black and
bright red tiles and stainless steel down
lights overhead make the pizza section
an inviting place to watch your pizza
being made while you wait.
A large bar sits alongside the brand
new kitchen. The prevailing bar features
a large cake display that houses a diverse
selection of mouth-watering cakes and
also a brand new three-group espresso
machine.
The back area of the restaurant
expands to house more tables, giving the
capacity to cater for larger groups as
well as traditional family groups. This
area is where you can really appreciate
the size of the restaurant. The colour
scheme of the new extensions is modern
and funky with various shades of green,
purple and a sandy beige colour.
One of the biggest expansions has
been the food preparation area. The boys
came up with the idea to build an underground
basement to hold there large cool
rooms, dry storage and freezers. As a
result, service can take place all day and
preparation does not interfere with fast
service. After food is prepared, it is easily
transported to the kitchen with a lift.
THE FAMILY:
Simon is the first of the Kurban
brothers five and the moneyman. He
performs the multitude of business transactions
that take place on a daily basis.
The restaurant and delivery take-away
section is run by a computerised ordering
interface. Simon maintains the sixterminal,
nine-printer system. Nothing is
produced without a docket. Simon has
done his time as a chef and several customers
still request him to make their
fettuccini carbonara.
Bill is brother number two of the
Kurban five and the Colombo’s maitré d.
From Balwyn to Box Hill, everyone
knows Bill Kurban and Bill knows
everyone. The women love him and the
men love to talk footy with him. He has
a unique way of making every customer
feel welcome and like they have celebrity
status. He is quirky and he is cheeky.
Who else could ask a woman, “I can’t
believe you haven’t left your husband
yet” while her husband is standing
directly beside her. His repour with his
staff is unique. He is the type of boss
who leads by example and gets his hands
dirty. Like the whole family, Bill is
extremely family-orientated and his
compassion for his staff is a character
trait that is very unique.
The front of the house is Bill’s domain. He works
the floor seating and is at the head of the table,
takeing over the cconversation and repeating
the same jokes until all of the people arund him
are in fits of laughter. On arrival, the first question
of any patron is, “Where’s Bill?”
Gaby is brother number three and
the Colombo’s head chef. Gaby orchestrates
the kitchen and leads his well-prepared
army of chefs into battle nearly
everyday. On a weekend, Gaby’s kitchen
will produce up 900 meals each day for
restaurant, take-away and delivery. At
times, the Colombo’s kitchen is a pressure
cooker, but Gaby ensures that no
matter how busy, the high quality
Colombo’s is famous for is maintained.
Where else can you eat an aged eye fillet
steak served with a delicious pepper
sauce, a mountain of vegetables and
potatoes for $19.50?
Gaby takes pride in his chef’s specials
and, despite the long hours and
hectic schedule, ensures a new chef
specials menu is produced each week.
The diversity of the Colombo’s menu
is astonishing. It includes appetisers,
such as nachos and potato skins; entrees such as freshly shucked oysters;
risottos such as their famous risotto
marinara; seafood dishes
including a seafood platter served
on a two-tiered serving plate that
includes mainly grilled seafood;
meat dishes such as a veal scaloppine
that is one of the most popular
dishes on the menu and a range
of pastas all made fresh. The
menu comprises many vegetarian
dishes and due to meals being prepared
when ordered, any allergies
can be easily accommodated.
New to Colombo’s this year is
the introduction of a breakfast and
brunch menu. At Colombo’s,
breakfast is now served every day
from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Wally is brother number four of
the Kurban five and in conjunction
with Fadi, manages the pizza
section. Pizza preparation is his
forte. Wally is a character and is
responsible for so many people
coming to collect their take-away
meals as they are assured a chat with
Wally will have them in stitches.
Fadi is the youngest of the five
brothers and his passion and pride in his
work is unsurpassed. He is the most
pedantic of the family and strives for
perfection from all staff members. He
has combined his high standards and
dedication to ensuring a high level of
quality control.
Wally and Fadi together have created
a streamlined pizza section that caters
to the simplest to the most intricate of
palates. The pizza menu has a diverse
range, from a mouth watering margherita
featuring Colombo’s homemade pizza
sauce that is rich in flavour to their
unique gourmet pizza’s. The gourmet
pizzas are made on a sourdough base
and you can choose from three varieties.
The first is the award-wining gourmet
vegetarian, which features sun-dried
tomatoes, marinated artichokes and seasonal
vegetables. The second is the tantalizing
gourmet chicken tandoori pizza,
which has a mountain of tandoori marinated
chicken, zucchini slices as well as
a yoghurt sauce on the base that is also
served as an accompaniment. The third
variety of gourmet pizza is the smoked
salmon, which features a generous
amount of smoked salmon, capers and
yoghurt sauce. The menu offers over 20
other pizza’s including their unique garlic
pizza.
Overseeing all of the business now
is Papa Kurban, who sits at the helm
greeting people as they enter and bidding
them farewell and best wishes as
they depart. Raif is a character, like his
sons and daughter Claude, and keeps
and eye on his staff ensuring that service
is meticulous.
Not to be forgotten is the giving
nature of the family. The restaurant is
located in a family-dedicated area with
numerous schools nearby, to which
Colombo’s have donated many a pizza
and ice-cream cone over the years. The
Kurban’s have always been community
conscious and for many years now have
donated pizzas and support to the
Children’s Hospital Good Friday
Appeal, which raises thousands of dollars
for the Royal Children’s Hospital.
The great success of Colombo’s can
be attributed to the ethics of the family
and to the high quality food they produce.
They insist on using the freshest
ingredients and are renowned for consistency,
whether they are catering for a
table of two or for a function of 200
guests. Children love dining at
Colombo’s and the kid’s menu, featuring
healthy meals, is of a comfort to
their parents. Colombo’s is a unique
restaurant where you see generations
of families frequent the establishment.
The grandparents introduced their children
to the restaurant and they now
bring their children to enjoy the food
and the atmosphere that is irreplaceable
to Balwyn and a credit to the Kurban
family.
PMQ
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