As a journalist, it can be difficult to be unbiased at times, especially when you love Italian food and you’re tasked with writing about pizza (there are worse jobs, I suppose).

The assignment from The Bugle was to check out the local pizza scene.

However, this journalist went to one of Kiama’s newest pizza joints, Loui’s, and decided she’d seen all she needed to see in regards to pizza and anything carbohydrate related.

Upon walking into Loui’s, owned by Morgan Lewis, also the proprietor of Fillmore’s, I instantly felt welcome.

The layout is spacious yet cosy, with plenty of natural light and the staff are friendly and easy going.

Renovated by Morgan using recycled wood, the interior strikes a balance between openness and warmth.

He had the goal of creating a space where locals - although tourists are also welcome - would feel comfortable eating alone at the bar and chatting to the staff.

He also wanted to offer late-night dining to the local community, something of a rarity in Kiama.

And in particular, he felt it was important to create a safe space for women to dine alone.

In addition to the welcoming atmosphere, the food at Loui’s is certainly something to write home about.

Based on traditional Italian food, which at its core is simple and uncomplicated, Loui’s offers a variety of pizzas and pastas which prove less is always more.

Morgan worked closely with Adam Childs to create a simple yet satisfying menu.

Having previously worked together at Fillmore’s, he said “it’s a really good partnership, it works great”.

This is evident as they laugh and chat about the menu that they developed together.

Despite the simplicity, the ingredients are high quality and local.

“It’s very important to have really good, fresh produce. And everything is made fresh on-site daily … and it’s ever evolving,” Morgan said.

Some recommendations from Morgan and Adam are the potato pizza and the salami pizza, which of course I had to try and, as expected, they were tasty and fired to perfection.

If you’re looking to feed a crowd, the table of nine that I dined with shared five pizzas which was enough to satiate us all.

While sipping on wine curated by Yakka and waiting for our pizzas to be woodfired, I caught glimpses of Adam kneading and tossing the pizza dough fresh to order (oh, to be the dough).

After pizza, it was time for dessert. On offer were oven-roasted, glazed peaches served with pistachio or vanilla gelato.

The peach itself was somewhat tricky to eat with a spoon, so I suggest picking it up and biting into it while simultaneously manoeuvring the gelato into your mouth.

Although be warned - you might feel like you should buy the peach a drink before consuming this way.

If you still have room after dessert, why not treat yourself to an affogato with coffee from a local roastery, Little Earth.

Loui’s is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5pm-10pm, Fridays and Saturdays 5pm-10:30pm.