41°
June 30, 2009 in Business
Pizzeria on wheels a hot idea
Veraci Pizza will visit farmers markets, fairs
toms@spokesman.com, (509) 459-5492
Seth Carey works at a farmers market on a mobile pizza oven. Photo by Errin Byrd Jett
(Full-size photo)
Seth Carey soon will launch Spokane’s newest pizza business using a portable pizza trailer to serve customers at farmers markets and fairs.
Carey has signed on as Spokane’s Veraci Pizza chef, joining the Seattle company that started the idea five years ago.
The Veraci trademark is thin-crust Neapolitan pizza baked on the spot using a hand-built clay oven burning nothing but apple wood.
Carey, 29, hopes to bake his first pizzas the weekend of July 18 at the Perry Street market.
Other markets on his regular circuit will be those in Liberty Lake, Coeur d’Alene and Cheney. Because of the Spokane downtown Farmers Market restriction to offer only fresh produce, Veraci’s mobile oven won’t set up shop there.
Carey grew up in Western Washington and studied massage therapy at a Seattle school. Responding to an ad on Craigslist, he took a job with the Seattle couple who founded Veraci Pizza. Early this year Carey agreed to a deal that made him the independent owner covering the Spokane area.
Pizzas will be sold by the whole pie or the slice. “The slices are a quarter of the pizza, so they’re huge pieces,” Carey said.
Slices vary in price from $3.75 (for basic three-cheese) to $4.50 (for daily specials). Full pies will range from $15 to $18.
Most home or restaurant ovens cook pizza at nearly 500 degrees, baking a pizza in about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the crust.
The Veraci clay ovens cook pizza at between 850 and 1,000 degrees.
“That way we get them nicely cooked in two to three minutes,” Carey said.
When not doing fairs or public markets, Carey hopes to offer his trailer for event catering. In Seattle, helping the other Veraci operators, he’s been to weddings and baked pizzas for up to 200 guests, he said.
For now the Spokane mobile pizza operation will be a one-man job. “If we get busy and really pick up, I might need to add a few people to help out,” Carey said.
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dabobster on June 30 at 12:23 p.m.
Veraci…really? I've heard so many great things about them from my friends in the Seattle area. I can't believe Spokane is getting in on this amazing pizza. I'll definitely be out at the markets this summer. It sucks the downtown market won't allow him in. They'll be missing out big time.
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audradaniel on June 30 at 11:04 p.m.
Hello, Actually there has been a business in Spokane, CDA and Sandpoint already for a while doing events and private catering. It is The FLATBREAD Pizza Co. They have a Custom built Trailer built in Boulder, CO last year. They have a Italian Forno Bravo Wood Pizza Oven mounted on a custom trailer that carries everything they need for an event or private catering. Commercial refrigerated pizza prep table, music, tents, dough table, hand wash sink, etc, Check it out. www.TheFLATBREADPizzaCo.com
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