Brothers who went from street food markets to restaurants are hoping to bring their indie pizza chain to one of Nottingham's most buzzing streets. Pizza Pilgrims was founded by Thom and James Elliot after a pilgrimage across Italy to find out how to make the perfect Neapolitan pizza.
Travelling the length and breadth of Italy in a three-wheeler "at blistering speeds of 18mph" they found the best ingredients for the menu, which means flour from the Caputo Mill in Naples, parmesan from Reggio Emilia, tomatoes from Campania and olives from Sicily. The brothers went on to install an oven in their Piaggio Ape car to sell pizzas at events for 18 months before landing their first bricks and mortar restaurant in London in 2012.
Since then they've grown to more than a dozen pizzerias in the capital, Brighton and Oxford. Now they've announced plans to head north to Nottingham, opening the first in the Midlands.
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Pizza Pilgrims plan to set up in Carlton Street, Hockley - the home of popular restaurants, bars cafes including Bar Iberico, Bonzai, Lost Property and Pho. They would be moving into Italian-style fish restaurant Crazy Fish My Love, which closed recently.
Owner Edin Gondzic has previously operated Edin's Natural Kitchen and Sexy Mamma Love Cicchetti at the site before rebranding as Crazy Fish My Love last year. He still runs Sexy Mamma Love Spaghetti in Broad Street.
Proposals have been submitted to Nottingham City Council to change the entrance, replacing the mid-20th century shop frontage with bi-fold windows, new signage fascia, repositioning of the existing awning and a new door.
A planning statement said: “The proposed Pizza Pilgrims re-use of an established restaurant and bar premises with day-time, evening and late-night opening will provide an active and vibrant street scene use.”
Pizza Pilgrims offer 15 different varieties, including three vegan pizzas and the chance to personalise your own. The menu starts with a classic margherita and moves onto meaty feasts such as Double Pepperoni & Spicy Honey and Salsiccia e Friarielli, which translates as roasted Italian sausage and wild broccoletti, which is a cross between between broccoli and Chinese kale.
Mushroom & Truffle and Burrata & Pesto are amongst the meat-free options. Ve-Du-Ya is a vegan-friendly pizza made with cashew based ‘notzarella’ and knock your socks off vegan 'nduja.
It follows the news that Pizza Punks will be opening, just around the corner in Fletcher Gate, on November 17, offering unlimited toppings to create your own pizza.
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