Business / Pop-up pizzeria plans pick up pace
A POP-UP pizzeria is set to launch in a bid to bring something a little different to communities around Shetland.
Nick Lundy, who has lived in Shetland for around two years, will host his first event under the name The Nomadic Pizzeria next month.
It will be held at the Dunrossness Hall on Friday 4 April from 5pm to 8pm, with pizzas made fresh on site using a mobile gas-fired oven and people able to sit in and eat.
Although there are a couple of other mobile catering businesses in Shetland, a dedicated pizza enterprise appears to fill a gap in the market.
For Lundy, who plans to host pop-up events at halls and other venues around Shetland, it also gives him a chance to get out and about in the community which he now calls home.
“In my day job I work from home, so I don’t get out very much,” the Northern Irishman explained to Shetland News.
“I’ve been here for two years, and I haven’t really been out too much in the community. I wanted to try a do a bit for the community and see a bit more of it.
“I’m a people person, I like meeting people and chatting, and I don’t get much of that in my day to day.”
His day job, which he does from his home near Bigton, is certainly an unusual one – Lundy creates technical drawings for sets and scenery for TV, large scale opera shows and musicals all over the globe, from London’s West End to America and Asia.
Some of his work has included a Tardis set for BBC show Doctor Who, and the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony.
But he also had a stint working in a pizzeria in Northern Ireland in his late teens, and has a long-held interest in baking and cooking.
Given it will be his first pop-up night, Lundy encouraged punters to be “gentle and patient” at the Dunrossness event, with the aim to be able to do pizzas for around 90 people.
They will be cooked in a Neapolitan style, and could include margheritas and pepperoni. As things expand, more flavours will be tried out, while desserts could be an option in the future too for a post-pizza sweet treat.
Lundy said he is “juggling” with the supply chain at the moment, with mozzarella the item which seemingly has the most issues.
As the pizza oven is gas-fired it will be kept outside under a gazebo, with folk able to sit in the hall to eat.
“We wanted to bring something to the halls and communities and have the opportunity to do something different,” Lundy said.
“So we’re using the hall for a space for sitting in, for people to use the hall, to have a drink and bring in more revenue to the halls.”
He is keen to get his pizza oven out across Shetland, including to more outlying areas such as Yell, Unst and the Westside, and has expressed an interest in pairing up with events too.
And it certainly sounds like the Nomadic Pizzeria venture will give Lundy the chance to get himself out and around the isles too.
“By doing this pizzeria idea,” he said, “it will force you to get out, meet new people and have a bit of fun along the way.”
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