The co-owner of a popular pet-friendly pizza restaurant in Sydney’s inner-city has been charged with supplying a menu of party drugs including magic mushrooms.
Andrew ‘Hamo’ Hamilton, from Surry Hills, opened Brooklyn Crispy at Potts Point a week before Christmas, with offbeat offerings including pizzas for dogs.
It was a bold move into the hospitality industry for the 35-year-old private school graduate after a career in public relations working for global firms.
While early trade for Brooklyn Crispy was strong and reviews positive, Hamilton was allegedly running a side business selling magic mushrooms, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine and LSD.
Andrew Hamilton, the co-owner of a popular pet-friendly pizza restaurant in Sydney’s inner-city, has been charged with supplying a menu of party drugs including magic mushrooms. Hamilton is pictured at Brooklyn Crispy at Potts Point
Hamilton, opened Brooklyn Crispy at Potts Point a week before Christmas, with offbeat offerings including pizzas for dogs. It was a bold move into the hospitality industry for the 35-year-old private school graduate after a career in public relations working for global firms
Located in the heart of Kings Cross on Springfield Avenue, Brooklyn Crispy has an on-site meat smoker and leafy courtyard, but is most distinctive for welcoming pets. A dog holding a pizza box is pictured on the restaurant’s Facebook page
Hamilton, whose Facebook profile says he is ‘sillier than most’, was arrested at his home in Fitzroy Street on June 4 by the Surry Hills proactive crime team.
Police allegedly found 17 grams of cocaine, 43.7 grams of ecstasy, and 8 grams of ketamine, a sedative which induces a trance-like state and is used medically for anaesthesia.
They also allegedly located a commercial quantity (413 grams) of psilocybin, known as magic mushrooms, and 3.4 grams of lysergic acid, or LSD, along with $12,450 in cash.
The St Ignatius’s College Riverview old boy was taken to Surry Hills police station and appeared before Parramatta Bail Court the next day when he was remanded in custody.
He was charged with two counts of supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, two counts of supplying an indictable quantity of drugs, supplying drugs and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Hamilton opened Brooklyn Crispy with a partner who has more than 20 years’ hospitality experience, and an accomplished executive chef.
‘Brooklyn Crispy was born from a desire to deliver quality crispy pizza to the people,’ its website states. ‘Somewhere along the line, people started to take pizza a bit too seriously’
The quirky menu includes ‘caffeinated cow’ (coffee and cola brisket topped with corn and potato salad), and ‘yes it says pineapple get over it’ (ham/salted pineapple/mustard) pizzas
‘Andrew’s grandmother Sue Preme, actually was a pizza,’ Hamilton’s biography on the company website states. ‘So the magic of pizza is in his DNA.
‘Like everyone else, Andrew was getting fat during COVID-19, and after failing to find a quality crispy-base pizza in his area, decided it was time to solve this serious culinary problem.’
There is no suggestion anyone else involved with the eatery knew of Hamilton’s alleged drug dealing or that it was being conducted through the restaurant, which continues to trade.
Located in the heart of Kings Cross on Springfield Avenue, Brooklyn Crispy has an on-site meat smoker and leafy courtyard, but is most distinctive for welcoming pets.
‘Brooklyn Crispy was born from a desire to deliver quality crispy pizza to the people,’ the eatery’s website states. ‘Somewhere along the line, people started to take pizza a bit too seriously.
‘We’re here to remind you that when you think about it, it’s just dough, cheese, and a few toppings. We’re not going to change your life, but we may change your day!’
Hamilton, whose Facebook profile says he is ‘sillier than most’, was arrested at his home in Fitzroy Street on June 4 by the Surry Hills proactive crime team. Hamilton is pictured
Hamilton was recognised in 2013 by B&T magazine, the leading publication for Australia’s advertising, marketing and PR industries, as one of its 30 young stars under 30
The quirky menu includes ‘caffeinated cow’ (coffee and cola brisket topped with corn and potato salad), and ‘yes it says pineapple get over it’ (ham/salted pineapple/mustard) pizzas.
The dog pizza menus features ‘skippy’s nightmare’ (kangaroo bacon/beef mince/mozzarella) and ‘get clucked’ (poached chicken/carrot), which can be washed down by bottled bone broth known as ‘puppy vino’.
‘I’m reasonably certain we’re the only place in Australia doing dog pizzas,’ Hamilton told Good Food in February.
‘Do I think there’s a market for it? I don’t think people would be travelling an hour in the rain to come here and try it if there wasn’t.’
The dog pizza menus features ‘skippy’s nightmare’ (kangaroo bacon/beef mince/mozzarella) and ‘get clucked’ (poached chicken/carrot), which can be washed down by bottled bone broth known as ‘puppy vino’. Brooklyn Crispy is pictured on Friday
Hamilton was recognised in 2013 by B&T magazine, the leading publication for Australia’s advertising, marketing and PR industries, as one of its 30 young stars under 30.
At the time he was Sydney account director for the American public relations and consultancy giant Edelman and was named in the marketing/PR category.
He had previously run his own his own company, Pirate Communications, providing services for businesses in the education and finance industries.
Hamilton states on his Linkedin profile he has volunteered with St Vincent de Paul Society’s Night Patrol for more than seven years, helping feed the homeless in the city.
He will appear at Central Local Court next month. Hamilton’s business partner told Daily Mail Australia he hoped to keep the restaurant open.
‘Andrew’s grandmother Sue Preme, actually was a pizza,’ Hamilton’s biography on the company website states. ‘So the magic of pizza is in his DNA’. The restaurant is pictured