by ben@ben-smith.net | Jun 18, 2015 | Uncategorised
We use more flour than most households. Should we launch a restaurant it won’t have happened overnight. We’ll have kneaded several tonnes of dough before bricks and mortar was ever a possibility. Rather than put the bags out with the recycling we started collecting a...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Mar 30, 2015 | Uncategorised
We keep two sourdough starters. Extravagant I know. This is mainly down to nostalgia but there’s the odd occasion where there are benefits of maintaining two at different hydrations or water contents. Sanj is getting on a bit now, born in my old flat, named after a...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Mar 5, 2015 | Uncategorised
On the surface there’s not much to this newsletter, a few paragraphs which don’t really do justice to the last few months. Give the links a click though. Make yourself a cup of tea and peel back the layers on what we’ve been up to. Restaurant news I’ve now lost track...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Feb 27, 2015 | Uncategorised
We’ve been to Naples. Love the place. The chaos is part of the charm and they know a thing or two about pizza. However we’ve always taken more of a lead from what’s going on the other side of the Atlantic. We’re not Italian and don’t...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Jan 13, 2015 | Uncategorised
Sprouts get a lot of bad press and this pizza is a nightmare to sell. But I refuse to back down as it’s one of my all time favourites and I’ve yet to meet anyone who hasn’t enjoyed it having given it a try. There’s something about the way the...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Jan 13, 2015 | Uncategorised
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” Probably the last thing you want to hear in January but trust me it’s preferable to my tax return so let’s catch up on a couple of toppings which went down well last month. Ingredients Sourdough base...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorised
If you already subscribe to our newsletter you’ll know all this, if you’d like to subscribe, click here. It’s over a year since I travelled 5000 miles to work at Pizzicletta, where did that go? Back then I still had the day job and was about to take a leap...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Oct 23, 2014 | Uncategorised
“Just to confirm…” Never the best start to an email. It was 12:30 and we were mid way through a busy lunch service in the middle of summer. A beautiful day to be stood anywhere but the mouth of a 500º oven. I was wearing shorts. “… no shorts will be permitted onsite”...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Aug 29, 2014 | Uncategorised
Pizza’s simple. Good ingredients on good bread. We’re proud to source our tomatoes from the lovely people at The Tomato Stall on the Isle of Wight. Ripened on the vine, picked at their peak, with varieties selected for flavour not yield –...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Aug 12, 2014 | Uncategorised
Everyone loves the summer At least that’s what I used to think but it turns out I was wrong. Our dough hates it. With ‘cold’ tap water above 22ºC and night temperatures remaining in the 20s there’s been nowhere to hide. We’ve always walked the...
