Pizza Today - September 2018 - 67

memorial services...we've
done Super Bowl parties."
WHAT ARE THE MAIN

challenges with a mobile
business? First the good
news. Bruce Lyon, of
Victoria's Wood Fired Pizza
Catering, who owns a pizza
shop and mobile units in
Bethel, Connecticut, says
restaurant owners' experience
-- and kitchens -- means
a reduced learning curve.
Sure, you've got to bone up
on local regulations around
health, licensing, permits,
staffing and insurance,
but Lyons says: "They're
not that different than for
restaurants."
For him, it's the special
occasion aspect (this may be
the most important day in a
client's life), plus the triplethreat of weather, traffic
and mechanical problems
newcomers should worry
about.
Lyon stresses exhaustive
preparation and
contingencies. "I have two
trailers that are kitchens,
and I have three trucks. If I
have a mechanical problem,
I just switch out trucks and
keep going." And while food
never takes a backseat, he
says reliability is core to the
business: "I don't care how
good your food is if I'm not
real comfortable that you're
going to be at my location
on time, and the food is
going to be served on time,
no matter what the weather
does."
With special events, Jones
also stresses capacity, noting
he can dispatch a large
mobile wood-fired oven,
and/or two smaller units as
needed. "If you have a small
oven, you can only produce

so much pizza, so if someone
calls you for a 200 person
wedding, what do you do?"
Finally, staffing needs
extra care. "You don't really
develop a set schedule," says
Darsky, whose truck operates
from three to five days per
week. "So employees don't
always love that. In this case
I have people who are very
nice, they are flexible people."
WHAT KIND OF PROMOTION
AND PARTNERING DO YOU DO?

Talking to successful
entrepreneurs, the need
for creative partnering
becomes evident. Reciprocal
referrals, for example,
promote your brand and
elevate overall service. As
Lyon says, "Venues, service
companies, bartenders, event
coordinators, photographers,
the guys who provide bouncy
houses, bands...You'll see
on our Web site some of
our favorite vendors - and
they're all lead sources for us
as well."
Like many operators, Lyon
is not licensed or insured to
pour alcohol, so he also refers
bartending services. Darsky
likes partnering with a
brewery too. "Someone has a
cool space with some alcohol
and we'll always have food.
So that's a great thing."
While they work their
social media channels and
Web sites, it's clear that for
mobile caterers, promotion is
really about getting out there.
"I'm about being here as
much as I can and old school
shaking hands and making
eye contact," says Lyon.
There are lots of mobile
pizza ovens and courses
being sold today.

HOW DO YOU STAND
OUT FROM ALL THE NEW
COMPETITORS?

Catering is hard work,
so that weeds out some
"weekend warriors," says Lyon.
Influenced by the renowned
Tony Gemignani, he also
talks in terms of passion and
"chef-driven" pizza and about
delivering an event package
- not just pizza. "There are
lots of people who really are
vendors and they want to call
themselves caterers."
Successful catering from the
heart, it seems, can take many
forms. For a chef like Darsky
it's award-winning Neapolitaninspired pies and creative vision.
For Jones, it's hyper-local
ingredients, a small-is-better
approach and (gasp) time off in
the winter. Lyon embraces strict
Neapolitan rules, the wedding

business and choices. His
offerings include ice sculptures,
cheese wheel wedding cakes
- and for older clients he's
begun grilling chicken, Alaskan
salmon and beef tenderloin
inside his pizza oven.
OVERALL THEN, WOULD YOU
RECOMMEND MOBILE CATERING
TO OUR READERS?

"You're already carrying
the heavy overhead in your
building, presumably for your
restaurant business, and now
you're adding an outlet that is
a much broader margin outlet,"
says Lyon. "To the degree that
the logistics make sense, in
most cases I'm going to say it's
a home run." n
CONNIE JESKE CRANE is a
Canadian freelance writer.

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / 6 7
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