If you’re wandering the streets of Leven near Parkdale Avenue football pitches you might just have experienced the sweet smells of success.
The aromas from the pizza truck that has taken up residency for the past 11 months in the car park can be sniffed at least half a mile down the road, and locals have been flocking to get a slice of the action as a result.
Following your nose you’ll find The Oven Airstream, a metallic vehicle that could quite possibly be mistaken as a space ship if you looked too fast.
It is the brainchild of 29 year-old Dillon McEwen and his mother Andrea, plus their friend Marc Wheelen who they went into partnership with.
The idea stemmed from the trio wanting to serve up log-fired pizzas in the town as they felt the offering for authentic Italian pizza in Leven was lacking.
Initially they wanted to find a premises to operate from, but with a lack of buildings and lockdown restrictions favouring takeaway food, the trio invested £20K into an American airstream travel trailer which was shipped from China to bring The Oven Airstream dream to life.
After a long 13 month renovation adding the oven and seeking council approval they opened for business in September 2021 at the pitches and haven’t looked back since.
Open from 5-10pm Thursday and Friday and 2-10pm on Saturday and Sunday, the pizzas can be pre-ordered for a selected collection time from the firm’s website, or made fresh to order on-site.
Authentic Italian pizza
While Dillon and Andrea live in Lower Largo, Marc stays in Glenrothes and when not working offshore travels regularly to serve up the authentic dish.
Andrea, who worked in the Central Cafe in Cupar during the pandemic used her experience and skills in hospitality to help develop Marc and Dillon’s dream.
Dillon said: “My mum has experience in hospitality but for me and Marc it was just a dream that became a reality.”
To master the art of pizza making the trio took a trip to Milan in September 2020 to learn the process of making authentic Italian style pizza.
Using their newfound knowledge, the trio, who have now employed seven staff members, started slinging out pizzas made with their homemade dough which takes 48-hours to make, to the public.
They have now also invested another £8K into a new oven from Naples after the first produced too much smoke. This new one has been adapted to work better in the vehicle and is more efficient.
In the last 13 months the team have managed to serve more than 40,000 pizzas to the public and have no plans of slowing down.
What is on offer at The Oven Airstream?
Customers at the food truck can expect a range of 12 inch pizzas to choose from including margherita, pepperoni, chicken, vegetarian with tomato, red onion, pepper and mushroom, and a vegan pizza. Prices price range from £7.50 to £9.
Currently their most popular are pepperoni followed by the classic margherita.
There’s also a build-your-own option where customers can choose between a base of tomato, spicy, barbecue or garlic plus cheese for £7.
They can then add their choice of meats from The Buffalo Farm for £1 per topping, vegetables at 50p per topping and have purchase a dip alongside their pizza for an extra pound.
“We try to keep menu quite simple, but I think it’s enough,” said Dillon.
“We have a build-your-own pizza because our ideas of what we like won’t be what everyone likes, so we thought it might be good for choice.”
They also offer a range of fries including regular, sweet potato, chips and cheese, chilli mince loaded fries with onion, cheese and sour cream and seasoned fries of either Cajun, salt and pepper, or signature seasoning.
Plus other sides like arancini, mac and cheese and garlic bread.
For dessert there’s Jannettas mint, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream for £2.50, Wicked Cheesecake’s mini cheesecakes for £5 or a Nutella pizza bread for £4 with the option to add a banana for 50p extra.
Future plans
After seeing the success from their first business, the team plan to open their own shop offering the same authentic style pizzas in Methil just down the road.
The property they are leasing is currently bring renovated and will serve as a takeaway venue with some bar stools so that customers till have the option to eat-in if they desire.
The trio hope to open the premises in the next four to five months.
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