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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pizzeria on wheels a hot idea

Veraci Pizza will visit farmers markets, fairs

Seth Carey works at a farmers market on a mobile pizza oven. Photo by Errin Byrd Jett (Photo by Errin Byrd Jett / The Spokesman-Review)

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.