THE BEGINNING.
Early in 2020 we were running SKapade Studios in Dumbarton, teaching young people electronic music production and DJ'ing. A lot of the work was workshops, in schools and with charities, often for kids who'd never otherwise get near a studio. All of it needed people in a room together, and lockdown ended that overnight. So we went back to something we'd been messing about with for years: pizza. Stephen had notebooks full of dough experiments. Big Gal brought the family recipes and a good nose for flavour.
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An empty roll shop on Castlegreen Street came up to rent and we signed the lease before we'd worked out how to pay for it. Savings and borrowed kit went in, and a lot of late nights went on getting the dough right.
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On Boxing Day 2020 we lifted the shutters and opened for collection only.
Word got
around.
Inside a year we'd picked up Lloyds Bank Small Business of the Year, a "Highly Recommended" at Scotland's Best Pizza, and a spot on The Times' list of the top pizzerias in the UK.
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We started wondering whether it would work somewhere with chairs and a beer list. Over coffee with an old friend who ran a café in Paisley, we sketched out a sit-down restaurant in Johnstone. Same dough, same standards, with comfortable seating and local craft beer added on. We opened two years after the first shop. It was full on the first night.
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WHERE WE ARE NOW.
Three kitchens now, one rulebook. Dumbarton does fast, fresh takeaway. Johnstone does table service, with playlists that nod to our studio days and lager from Scottish microbreweries. Clydebank, the newest, a takeaway on Kilbowie Road, run with DJs Jezza and JOD of the PRTY Group. Pizza and dance music have been tangled up in this from the start, so that one fits. Across all three, we stick to seasonal veg at its best and Italian staples where they matter.
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Gift cards on the website bring new faces in every week, and our mobile wood-fired oven turns up at festivals and community events around the area.
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The awards look good on the wall. The bit that actually matters is when someone goes quiet after the first bite, then tells us it's the best crust they've had.
How we
make it
One rule from the start: respect the dough. It rests for forty-eight hours before it goes near the oven, which is what keeps it light and easy to eat. The flour is milled near Napoli and we use our own sourdough hybrid blend. The tomatoes are San Marzano, crushed by hand. The meats come from regional suppliers across Italy, and the vegetables are organic and sourced here in Scotland.
