New wood-fired pizza eatery on its way to 'evolving' suburb

The new outlet is called Smoko - fantastically named for Fyshwick and its tradies but also a nod to the wood fire - and located in Lyell Street, next door to the popular Two Hands cafe.

Smoko owners Colin Lagos and Ailsa Franklin-Browne hope to have the eatery open in September.

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"I've been doing pizza for about 14 years in Canberra," Colin said.

"We did Pizza Gusto, which started at the Red Hill shops and moved to Lonsdale Street in Braddon and we've got East Pizza at the Kingston Foreshore and now decided to set this little adventure up and commission Lucks to do this wonderful work, it's three-dimensional, it's beautiful."

It is the first artwork completed in Canberra by Lucks who is renowned for weaving symbols of luck throughout his work, hence the white rabbits and black cats, with the piercing green eyes.

He started the work last Thursday, using spray paints to create a rich tapestry of work on a vast canvas.

"Colin and Ailsa basically gave me free rein to paint and play and they were very trusting and it leads to better work, I think. I'm just doing my work and they trusted my vision," he said.

Ms Franklin-Browne reached out to Lucks to do the work, a fan of his pieces through David Bromley's gallery.

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"We had this massive wall and we thought, 'What are we going to do with it?'. I didn't want to just paint it charcoal," Mr Lagos said.

"That's when we got Lucks down here and look what he's done. It's incredible."

Mr Lagos said he and his wife remained optimistic about opening a new eatery in the midst of COVID-19 uncertainty.

"With our business model, we believe, 'Keep it small and keep a takeaway element'," he said.

"East Pizza at the foreshore is strictly takeaway. You come to a window, you don't come into the shop, so we haven't had to adjust to COVID times, thankfully, which has worked in our favour.

"So, we'll take advantage of an opportunity to get into another business and get established until things turn around.

"And Fyshwick is evolving. It's really busy during the day. There's a lot of trades and local businesses so we think there is a market for a real alternative, not just another cafe. Rents are affordable and I think we're going to see an evolution in the kind of businesses that come out to Fyshwick. And it's proximity to the city is great, it's quite a good location."

Fyshwick businesses are also embracing the trends of getting their brand out there with the help of murals. European Garage commissioned emerging artist PAW to transform its workshop last year.

And Melted, the toasted sandwich emporium in Pirie Street, Fyshwick, also added a mural to the side of its shop by street artist Dylan Thomas.