Dough Bros sure know how to ply their pizzas right!
NEW SHOP OPENS TODAY IN FREEMAN STREET MARKET - SO WHY NOT GRAB A SLICE?
A NEW New York-style pizza shop is opening today on Freeman Street Market.
Called ‘Dough Bros’, the company is spearheaded by three chefs who have spent years working in pubs and restaurants in our local area. The three owners, Tom Whotton, Stephen Johnston and Danny Smith, have over 20 years’ experience in the industry and are now looking to leave behind their days as pub and restaurant chefs to go it alone. The ‘Dough Bros’ will be serving New York-style pizza, known for its thick, crispy crust and soft base, but will also be serving the traditional ‘Grandma’-style pizza which is known for being thin and square in shape. Customers will be able to chose from all sorts of flavours like ‘Pepperoni Exploder’ and ‘Meat Fighter’.
For owner Tom, it’s been a quick turn around to get the business ready for opening on Friday. “Since being given the go ahead, we’ve had three weeks to get it ready from start to finish,” he said. “The opportunity popped up out of nowhere really. We’ve always spoken about doing this, but until now, we’ve never been able to. We saw how successful our former employers had been owning their own food businesses so decided to go for it ourselves.
“This is the ultimate dream for a chef, to own their own place.”
For fellow owner Stephen, Dough Bros is a little different to previous jobs he’s had.
He said: “I worked in France and in the Alps at private chalets, then started working for street food companies at festivals, that’s where I get my passion for this style of cooking. “It’s massive down South and in the Midlands it’s beginning to take off more, we just wanted to try to recreate this in our area. Having the small menu is what it’s all about, you stick to one product and you do it right.
“As well, we’d been falling out of love with being chefs for someone else. Working for someone else isn’t freedom d and d now th that t we’re ’ workk ing for ourselves, I’ve never been happier.”
For Danny, the project has been a stressful few weeks, but worth it for the end result.
“We’ve done the entire project ourselves from top to bottom and the creative control we’ve got from that has been brilliant,” he explained. “It was difficult adapting from a big kitchen to this smaller premises, but we’ve solved any problem we encountered. For example, we couldn’t buy a pizza peel big enough for our oven so Stephen made his own.
“After getting the nod on April 17, it’s been stressful, but it’s been a good stress. There’s been a lot of work going into this, but we’re all ready and can’t wait to get open.” Tom explained the inspiration behind the brand and what they plan to do in the future should they be successful. He said: “Our biggest inspiration has come from Brooklyn in New York. There, you see people just eating a slice of pizza on the side of the street and that community is what we want.
“I’ve been to other cities, like Leeds, and I just don’t feel like anywhere does what we’re planning to do.
“Looking ahead, we’d love to
expand and have a number of sites across the area. Firstly though, we want to be here and make sure we get the product right.
“It’s great being at Freeman Street market as well. Everyone has been really friendly to us, from customers to other stall holders.
“This is the place to be at the moment, it’s definitely an up and coming area.”
Stephen added: “We’re really looking forward to seeing the community spirit here and having banter with the customers. In a normal kitchen environment you don’t get that chance to be yourself, but here, you definitely do.
Our biggest inspiration has come from Brooklyn in New York. There, you see people just eating a slice of pizza on the side of the street and that community is what we want. I’ve been to other cities and I just don’t feel like anywhere does what we’re planning to do
Tom Whotton