OUR STORY
How it all began
Knead is a story of pizza love from husband & wife team, Simon & Olivia.
Gifted a pizza oven by our good friend ‘Big Ian’ – before the word Ooni even existed – we set off on years of some very tasty R&D. Regular trips to The Italian Shop in Maidenhead, farmer’s markets, and Italy herself opened our eyes to a new world of ingredients. Remember life before ‘nduja and guanciale? No, us neither.
We’ve only ever made our own pizza dough, so we initially set about trying to master all things flour. It wasn’t easy, but hosting pizza parties was, and still is, so much fun. That’s the beauty of communal eating; it’s as much about the process as it is the final product.
We always encourage everyone to give their own pizza party a go. Check out our guide on at-home pizza ovens that can smash out perfect pizzas every time.
We hit the road
We then decided to take the plunge to start our own venture by converting a classic Peugeot J7 van with a hand-built Italian oven in 2018. We hit the road ready to spread smiles and fill tummies.
Pop-ups, parties, weddings and festivals were our jam – they still are – and our fleet of vans grew to include a Piaggio Apé (she’s not a tuk-tuk!), Peugeot J7 (old gal) and Bel, our street-food van a.k.a pizzeria-on-wheels.
OUR FIRST PLANET-FRIENDLY PIZZERIA
Opening our own pizza restaurant has been on our wishlist since receiving that first pizza oven from ‘Big Ian’ all those years ago.
In December 2022, it all became a reality when we opened our first planet-friendly pizzeria on St Ives Road, Maidenhead and we are beyond ecstatic!
Our pizzeria is a celebration of everything we’ve been working on throughout the years. Great pizzas, good vibes and doing our little bit for the planet.
Quality is everything to us; we work with as many local suppliers as possible and aspire to innovate with our recipes. Bringing you something a little different reminds us of that curiosity phase from our pizza parties all those years ago, and we love it. Don’t worry, we’ve got all the classics too!
