Neil Perry tributes Sydney restaurateur Wolfie Pizem

Restaurateur Wolf Pizem has been remembered by colleagues after he passed away on the weekend.

Pizem, who was behind establishments the Coachman in Redfern, Wolfie’s, The Waterfront and Italian Village, died age 86.

He was remembered as “incredibly generous, supportive and smart” and a pillar of the Jewish community.

In attendance was Neil Perry who said, “He was always really supportive, incredibly generous and smart.

“He was really about my success and he had so much enthusiasm for how successful I was becoming.”

Pizem was instrumental in helping Perry launch Rockpool in the 1980s and was The Good Food Guide’s Vittoria Coffee “Legend” award recipient in 2004.

“He was one of the original real restaurateurs of the sixties, seventies and eighties,” Perry told The Daily Telegraph.

“The Coachman was everybody’s favourite place to go and have dinner back in the day.

“If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have had Rockpool.”

Wolfie was not only fondly remembered by the restaurant community, but also by the broader Jewish community.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry deputy president Robert Goot said “Wolfie was one of the great personalities of the Sydney Jewish community.”

“He was committed, vivacious, philanthropic, and had a particularly strong association with the Newtown Synagogue which he pushed to rebuild with great dedication and tenacity,” Mr Goot said.

“That was a synagogue in which his father and his family had been involved for many decades.

“Wolfie was wonderful company, had a great sense of humour and will be sorely missed.”

Jonathan Jackson, 21^st August 2024