by ben@ben-smith.net | Jul 22, 2014 | Uncategorised
Moving house is stressful, moving a house come pizzeria more so. But what better antidote than a stroll in the countryside, particularly if it’s brought to life by a true naturalist (I’m hoping that’s an expert in fauna and flora rather than someone with a liberal...
by ben@ben-smith.net | May 29, 2014 | Uncategorised
500 pizzas in and we’re starting to find our rhythm In the words of McDonalds The learning curve’s been steep, steep and damp, so much for the start of the British summer, but we’re lovin’ it. We’ve carried each other through the 3am starts, the repeated...
by ben@ben-smith.net | May 28, 2014 | Uncategorised
Bertha’s been feeling a little left out since the Berthamobile came on the scene, so to make up for the lack of action we thought we’d experiment with some hot smoking. We had an event down in Dorset over the weekend and to link in with the local seafood festival we...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Apr 27, 2014 | Uncategorised
Friday morning was cold. Cold and damp. We’d not lit the fire in weeks and she was sulking. The rain got heavier as I carried the logs over to the Landy and my t-shirt clung to my back – even the northerner in me was starting to concede this was a poor choice of...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Apr 17, 2014 | Uncategorised
It’s quite likely a dog’s peed here Residential North London isn’t the easiest area to cure an oven. I’m sat writing this while tending to the fire. And what a fire. The Dragon Oven team have done us proud. Setting that first match to the inside of my first...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Mar 19, 2014 | Uncategorised
One of the best things about starting a pizza business has to be meeting new suppliers. And as suppliers go Cobble Lane Cured are pretty special. They’re Mat, Matt and Adam and have been going under the name of Cobble Lane for almost a year now – it’s their...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Feb 27, 2014 | Uncategorised
With almost two months down we’re long overdue an update. If you’re already on our mailing list you’ll have heard most of this via our first newsletter a couple of weeks back and if you’ve not signed up then here’s the link. So why the update. Why now? Well things are...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Jan 26, 2014 | Uncategorised
What’s Rhianna’s favourite cheese? Mozzarella-ella-ella. Apologies. Even as cheese jokes go that’s a shocker. I’ve been wanting to make mozzarella for some time and inspired by the gents at Pizzicletta who are chuffed with the results of their own cheese making, I...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Dec 10, 2013 | Uncategorised
A weekend’s worth of pizza gluttony distilled into just over three minutes: Naples Pizza Tour from BerthasPizza on Vimeo. Restaurants (in order of appearance): Trianon Di Matteo Il Pizzaiolo del Presidente Di Matteo (again) Locanda ‘Ntretella Starita Da Michele...
by ben@ben-smith.net | Nov 10, 2013 | Uncategorised
1) One of the best margheritas I’ve had anywhere let alone in London 2) Textbook charing 3) Cloud-like cornicione 4) Proper Pastiera – Neapolitan cheese cake made with ricotta, wheat and a hint of citrus. No photo, we demolished it...
