FOR years, Ray Hanna nurtured the idea of bringing a dedicated pasta experience to Jamaica each time he and his wife Susan — owner/operator of the popular Susie’s Café in Shoppes at Southdale plaza, St Andrew — attended international food shows abroad.

On June 13 this year, that long-held ambition came to fruition with the official opening of Pastalicious, nestled next door to Susie’s. The venture represents a natural evolution of the couple’s culinary enterprise, extending the café’s more-than-30-year legacy of satisfying discerning tastes of Jamaicans and visitors while introducing a fresh dimension to its offerings.

The location had landed fortuitously into Hanna’s lap.

Although he and his son Nicholas agreed that the new establishment had to be situated in the plaza to facilitate the sharing of kitchen and storage facilities with Susie’s, suitable space was initially hard to find.

Their fortunes changed when the neighbouring Crocs store gave notice that it was moving to a larger location, presenting the family with an opportunity they could not afford to pass up.

“My father called me and said, ‘The space is available, so if we’re going to do it, we need to take the store now.’ I said, ‘Alright, let’s do it.’ So we took the store,” Nicholas, the chief financial officer, told the Jamaica Observer.

“I said to him at the time, ‘We can’t just sell pasta alone, we have to do pizza and pasta.’ And he said, ‘Well, we don’t know anything about pizza.’ I said, ‘No, but we’ll figure it out, don’t worry,’ ” the younger Hanna related.

That led to them trying different recipes and techniques until they were introduced to Max Proner, the pizza expert who had been making a name for himself at Devon House.

Proner accepted the offer and is now the executive chef at Pastalicious.

That decision has helped shape Pastalicious into an interactive dining experience where customers can watch their meals being prepared, customise their orders, and explore combinations that extend well beyond traditional Italian fare.

Proner, who was born in Italy to a Jamaican mother and an Italian father, brings a personal connection to the two culinary cultures. He makes no secret of his push to develop what he calls “Jamaican pizzas” and hopes, eventually, to make the local interpretation as recognisable and popular as Hawaiian pizza.

Proner’s enthusiasm is evident in the experimentation behind the menu, which continues to evolve in response to customer feedback.

Additionally, Pastalicious introduces a special pizza each month, with successful creations potentially earning a permanent place on the menu.

Four months after opening, the restaurant has already developed an impressive base of repeat customers, with social media reviews and videos helping to generate considerable excitement around the brand.

Catherine Hanna, Nicholas’s wife and the establishment’s head of marketing, has been instrumental in driving that momentum. Her strategy is to tell the Pastalicious story through engaging content that captures the creativity, fun, and energy of the experience rather than simply advertising food.

“If you go online, everyone is talking about Pastalicious; on TikTok and Instagram, everyone’s like, ‘We have to try Pastalicious, we have to go there,’ ” she told the Sunday Observer with a broad, bright smile.

“The second week after we launched I had an influencers’ night. I invited a bunch of influencers and I made a special influencer menu for them…I wanted it to be more meaningful than them just doing reviews, because that’s kind of what Pastalicious is about — building relationships,” she explained.

The resulting posts encouraged others to visit and record their own experiences, helping Pastalicious gain traction online.

One creation born out of that event was the four-corners pizza, which allows diners to sample four different varieties on a single pizza. Initially prepared for the influencers to taste several options, it proved so popular among their followers that the restaurant added it to the menu.

The response has reinforced the restaurant’s belief in the power of social media to influence customer choices. According to Nicholas, whenever Catherine features a particular pizza or pasta dish online, customers often arrive in the following days asking for it.

Yet it is the opportunity to create a pizza according to personal preference that gives Pastalicious much of its appeal. Customers can choose their toppings, combining familiar favourites with ingredients more commonly associated with Jamaican meals.

Oxtail, ackee, and callaloo are among the local ingredients inspiring the restaurant’s experimentation, alongside jerk chicken, bacon, ham, pineapple, and conventional vegetable toppings.

The most striking example is the Jamaican pizza, created by Proner, which features ackee and callaloo.

Catherine shared that initially customers were hesitant to try the unusual combination, but she encouraged the influencers to sample it during their visit.

The gamble paid off. The pizza, Catherine said, has become one of the restaurant’s best sellers, demonstrating that diners are willing to embrace unconventional combinations when given the opportunity.

To complement the experience, Pastalicious has invested in specialised equipment, including a state-of-the-art brick oven for pizza-making and high-tech magnetic induction burners for preparing pasta. The equipment, along with the techniques and ingredients Proner has sourced from Italy, supports the restaurant’s ambition to deliver quality while allowing its chefs to work in full view of customers.

Technology also plays a role in the ordering process. The original plan was to install self-service kiosks that would allow customers to place their orders independently. However, after encountering limitations with the customer-facing ordering system, the arrangement was adapted to include a hostess who welcomes customers and enters their orders.

That approach preserves the personal interaction that is central to the experience while allowing the kitchen to maintain the layout required for food safety.

On entry, customers are greeted with a warm welcome from the staff who number approximately 15 working two shifts through the restaurant’s 11:00 am to 6:00 am opening hours.

The staff comprises mostly new hires and a few who transitioned from Susie’s Café.

In addition to pizzas and pastas, customers can enhance their dining experience with a range of wines available in splits, garlic knots, and a range of cheese cakes that, according to one customer, are “to die for”.

By combining Italianinspired cuisine with Jamaican ingredients, customer participation and an energetic digital marketing strategy, Pastalicious is carving out a distinctive identity in Kingston’s dining scene.

Asked if he intends to expand the business, Nicholas said he’s entertaining the idea.

“I would want to open a second one in Kingston. Having another outside the city would just be too difficult to manage,” he told the Sunday Observer.

For the moment, though, the Hannas are content with their new venture, even as they continue to explore opportunities to improve customer satisfaction.

They are also aware that Pastalicious’s early success suggests that the appetite for pizza may extend well beyond the familiar toppings — particularly when customers are invited to help create something of their own.

Pastalicious supervisor Lamar Williams (foreground) sets about preparing a pasta meal while Petrease Johnson tends to a pizza order.

Pastalicious team member Suzana Wong-Sang helps customer Nicolas Brown place his order at the kiosk.

Pastalicious executive chef and pizza expert Max Proner makes no secret of his push to develop what he calls “Jamaican pizzas” and hopes eventually to make the local interpretation as recognisable and popular as Hawaiian pizza.

Some members of the Pastalicious team (from left) Alsasheen Archibald, Petrease Johnson, Nickayla Francis, Lamar Williams, Thadeka Campbell, and Andian Plummer. (Photos: Joseph Wellington)