The owner of "the UK’s best pizzeria” sat down with a food podcast to go in-depth on how it built its hype.
Hungry Podcast focusses on challenger food and drink brands to interview their founders and find out what it takes to make a successful business that can take on the big names.
In an episode last week, host Dan Pope visited Vincenzo’s Pizza in Bushey High Street and quizzed its founder, Tom Vincent.
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Dan said he has been watching the growth from afar “for ages” and expressed how much he had enjoyed the “banging” pizzas he had tried.
“He’s making pizza like no one else,” the host added. “He, alongside Crisp W6, is reinventing pizza.
“Some say they’re pioneering ‘London Pizza’.
“We go behind-the-slice- and unearth the story, its full of grit, passion, and 20 years of insomnia.”
@hungry.podcast If you’re having Vincenzo’s; have it the proper way 😎 #hungrypodcast #vincenzos ♬ original sound - Hungry Podcast
Vincenzo’s opened in September 2022 and has gained popularity on social media as well as in the Bushey area. It has received glowing reviews, including being named “the number one pizza in the UK” by popular YouTube channel Food Review Club.
The venue is small and intimate, seating just eight people with bookings on a first come first served basis, but it also offers takeaways without deliveries.
The podcast delved into the unique aspects of Vincenzo’s, including how it regularly sells out within minutes each morning and has to turn customers who turn up without a booking away throughout the day.
@hungry.podcast Vincenzo’s NIGHTMARE location hunt #hungrypodcast #vincenzos ♬ original sound - Hungry Podcast
This includes people who have travelled from abroad, including from New York, to try Vincenzo’s because of its reputation for quality.
Tom also revealed the struggle to find a location in the first place, which took two years.
“I was looking for a shop around this area and its really hard to find somewhere,” he said. “I would find an empty shop, there would be a sign and I would phone up. I wouldn’t get anywhere.
“I would get dead ends or a lot of near misses.
“I thought I had found the perfect shop, but the council wouldn’t give me permission to put an extractor in or the residents were moaning about the parking, and it would get refused.”
Despite this he did suggest another location in London, or a larger premises could be coming, saying “I’d be an idiot not to open another one”.
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