UK Pizza Pilgrims tour Italy with mobile Vespa GTS pizzeria | NEWS

If you like Italian food and scooters you might want to watch this series of films by renowned Pizza Pilgrims James and Thom.

The brothers embarked on a voyage of discovery back in 2011 by flying to the toe end of Italy, buying a Piaggio Ape 3-wheeler and driving it 4,500km back to London. They stopped at all the best pizza destinations along the way. The Pilgrimage (as it became known) was born. Another crazy idea dreamt up in the pub!

Street food was just kicking off in the UK and their plan was to learn all they could about making delicious pizzas before starting to trade at London’s famed Berwick Street Market. That went well and they opened their first Pizza Pilgrims permanent pizzeria in Soho back in 2013 – they now own 20 pizzerias across the country.

Not content with 0ne voyage of discovery in the homeland, the duo decided a Vespa was needed for Pizza Pilgrimage II.

Watsonian Squire

If you want a bespoke (or off-the-shelf) sidecar building then you head to The Cotswolds and speak to  Watsonian. “Since the company was founded in 1912 we’ve built thousands of tradesmen’s outfits for all sorts of jobs, including ice cream sellers, milkmen and even firemen” says Watsonian Managing Director Ben Matthews. “A tiny pizzeria is definitely a first and something totally unexpected.”

Vespa GTS

The Vespa GTS 300 was chosen to pull the mini pizzeria and Watsonian set about building it around their Platform Chassis, with a Grand Prix sidecar bodyshell (similar to the one used in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows).

• The sidecar body was adapted for the custom build and a tubular steel rack was fabricated to sit behind the rider, that carries a restaurant-grade Gozney portable pizza oven. How cool would that be on a rally campsite?
• A specially designed box was CNC-machined from HDPE thermoplastic and precision fitted over the sidecar’s boot. This would be used to store ingredients
• Solid oak worktops were fitted on top of the box, these fold out over the passenger cockpit to provide plenty of workspace when cooking
• Finally, bespoke carriers for the pizza peel and cutter were bolted to the sidecar

Watch the series

In July last year, Jame and Thom set out on a whistlestop 10-day tour of Italy on their Pizza Vespa. They visited icons of the Neapolitan pizza scene, as well as suppliers and friends made during their 10 career.

You can watch the full series of entertaining videos on their YouTube channel here. We’ve placed episode 1 above. Find out more about the Pizza Pilgrims, or your nearest restaurant here. 

Want a sidecar?

Scooters have been synonymous with sidecars since the 1940s and ’50s. Watsonian Squire are a traditional English company and can build a combo to suit you, your scooter or your requirements.