TV cameras follow pair’s adventures in pizza van
TWO men from Cardiff quit their day job to begin a pizza business which is being showcased on the world stage.
Ieuan Harry and Jez Phillips created Ffwrnes Pizza, a wood-fire pizza maker which is taken on the road in their threewheel van.
And now a four-part TV series is following their adventure from Wales to the Campionato Mondiale della Pizza – the Pizza World Championships.
The pair head to the north coast of Spain on a ferry from Plymouth, trying out tapas in the Basque region before meeting a fellow Welsh speaker from Aberystwyth at a San Sebastian restaurant named Txikipolit.
From there they head off to make cider at a distillery, and continue to take in the food culture of the areas they visit. Picking up fresh ingredients along the way, they get the opportunity to show off their own culinary talents to the locals.
“We bought the van – after perhaps a couple of bottles of red wine – on eBay, and we haven’t looked back since,” said Ieuan.
“I worked in a mining consultancy, working on digital mapping, while Jez was a personal trainer.
“Sure, we did have to pinch the pennies at first – neither of us had any experience of starting and running our own business – and we weren’t sure at the time how every week was going to go. It was a shot in the dark for us, as we had no catering experience either.
“We’re both 40 years old now. We both used to enjoy making pizza in the house, and then the spark was there. We visited Naples, and later decided that that was the kind of pizza that we wanted to make.
“We have a semi-permanent base on the edge of Cardiff now, and we have hopes to open a cafe in the town centre in the not-too-distant future.
“Last year we won an award for the best pizza in Wales at the Welsh Italian Awards, and a production company approached us. We knew about the world championships competition in Italy, but until then it wasn’t something that we were thinking about.
“Normally, we try not to travel that far from Cardiff, so to head to mainland Europe with the van was a logistical nightmare. Not to mention getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road.
“The show is about two friends going on an adventure and trying to make the most of the experience in our little threewheel van. We’re quite big fans of The Trip, the show which starred Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, and we’d say the show is similar – we’re driving around Europe eating food!”
Bois y Pizza is on S4C with English subtitles starting on Friday at 8.25pm. It will then be available on the BBC iPlayer.