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ONE of the city's top restaurants is cooking up a new offering and expanding its services with the launch of a new high-end takeaway and delivery service.
Burleigh-based Justin Lane Pizzeria and Bar, founded and managed by Adam Haralampou, is set to launch a new app to cater for a growing demand of consumers seeking premium takeaway and delivery options on the Gold Coast.
The service has been operating as a trial for the past week with people able to order takeaway and delivery options over the phone.
Three new staff have been hired and more than 150 delivery requests were received in the first week with Haralampou even having to deliver pizzas in his own car on a Friday and Saturday night.
Haralampou says America offers gourmet style delivery options along with Melbourne, however the Gold Coast is underserviced and has not yet embraced this opportunity.
"It was a natural progression for me to go from serving people in-house to being able to deliver it to their front door," says Haralampou.
"There is nowhere that delivers good food to people's door. It always tends to be your fast-food type franchises - there is a big need for people that want to get delivery food but don't want it to be typically fast food."
Initially the service was designed for a limited number of areas including Burleigh, Burleigh Waters and Miami and, due to popular demand, Justin Lane has expanded the delivery options to include residences within a five kilometre radius of the restaurant.
The ultimate vision is to implement a strategy to service the entire Gold Coast.
Justin Lane was established in 2011 and assisted in the rejuvenation of James Street as a modern-day, popular hangout for locals and tourists.
The restaurant first occupied a small bar and downstairs dining area and expanded to include an upstairs function room which can seat a further 90 guests along with a second bar.
Even with this expansion, the restaurant still struggled to meet demand, leading Haralampou to launch and open Cavalier - an authentic Italian restaurant which is situated next door to Justin Lane.
Cavalier complements the pizzeria and features a downstairs bar element which aims to capture Justin Lane patrons for both pre- and post-dinner drinks - a business idea that Haralampou describes as "smart".
Haralampou's business ventures have grown from employing 18 staff to more than 60 and turnover figures have grown 400 per cent.
Haralampou attributes the growth to being a good operator and identifying a need in the market.
"Burleigh needed something like Justin Lane - people want a great dining experience and they also want a place with a good atmosphere and great service," he says.
"I saw a gap in the market. The Gold Coast has always been quite behind the times in terms of culture, and Melbourne has always been that place you benchmark yourself against.
"At the end of the day I was bringing what was happening in Melbourne to the Gold Coast. I wasn't reinventing the wheel as such, I just asked 'why would people not want something like that up here'."
Haralampou says he has further business plans up his sleeve, both in the hospitality industry and more broadly.
"I am somebody who doesn't like to sit still; I will continually refine and improve Justin Lane and Cavalier and ensure it is a good experience, but there is definitely other things on the horizon," he says.
The Justin Lane takeaway and delivery app is expected to hit iTunes in the next couple of weeks and will eventually include meal options from Cavalier.
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