AFTER well over 18 months chipping away at the work that needed to be done to open his new pizza shop on Coleraine Road, owner, Aaron Lang, was thrilled to get the green light to open from the health inspector on Wednesday and start baking the next day, just in time for the AFL Grand Final weekend.

The naming of the shop – ‘Curly’s’ – was an important detail for Mr Lang, as his roots in the area go way back.

When the signage went up a few weeks ago, some locals noticed the name and even stopped by to say hello as he put the finishing touches on the building.

“My grandfather was a soldier-settler out on Langs Road, North Byaduk,” Mr Lang said.

“My family and my aunties and uncles grew up here, cousins and everything. My father left here to join the police force. He’s now back in Hamilton as well.

“This is where we’ve set ourselves up.

“I always wanted to do something that I could remember my grandfather with. He was well known here.

“A lot of people knew him as Curly, so I decided I’ll call the pizza ‘Curly’s’.”

With over 21 years of experience in pizza, Mr Lang has been keen to get his food business going in Hamilton, having converted the old butcher shop to something presentable; he even has some benches out the front which harken back to the previous business.

“They were reclaimed timber from the old stable out the back – originally the meat was delivered by horse and cart,” he said.

“I made tables out of that – there’s obviously shearers’ combs and a few bullets and things that were (also) left out in the old shed so I’ve epoxied them in there as well.”

But all of this is secondary to the main topic – the pizzas themselves.

With “quite a large menu of over 50 pizzas”, Mr Lang said he doesn’t really have a favourite – “I tend to mix it up a bit myself” – but he has recently added a new type called the mixed grill.

“There’s something for everyone,” he said.

With the local welcome he’s received from the shop name, Mr Lang was hopeful finally opening up would translate into the venture being a success.

“It’s really nice to come back to Hamilton where the Langs are from and (hear from) everyone who knew Curly, my grandfather – he was a bit of a character,” Mr Lang said.

“There’s always plenty of stories about him which is fantastic to hear.”

Mr Lang said the name could also be considered when trying out one of the pizzas.

“You trust the crust, and you’ll get curly hair,” he joked.