Pizzas made in a wood-fired oven are now being served to diners at a new pizzeria in the Covered Market.
Sartorelli’s, the new business venture in the former Nash’s Bakery unit in the historic market, opened yesterday.
It is being run by Christian Gyuricza, whose Church Hanbrewery supplies the Teardrop bar in the market managed by his wife Luciana.
Mr Gyuricza’s business partner at Sartorelli’s is Magnus Joye, who has been working for the brewery during the pandemic.
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Mr Joye said: “Sartorelli is Luciana’s maiden name. During the pandemic we got a small oven and started cooking in the brewery and delivered pizza and beer around the neighbourhood - that’s how this all started.
“It’s all fresh sour dough from a mill in Gloucestershire and we cook the pizzas in a wood-fired oven we have built here in the market.
“It took a while to build the oven as it was delivered in different components and it took about a week to decorate it with a mosaic on the outside.”
The pizzeria can seat about 20 people on counters inside, or benches outside, and they are welcome to take their pizzas to eat at the Teardrop bar.
“The new bookshop Gulp Fiction said people could bring their pizzas over if they wanted to,” added Mr Joye.
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“I think there is good camaraderie between all the traders at the market - everyone wants to help each other.”
Mr Joye said he believed Sartorelli’s has the market’s only wood-fired oven. He added: “Of course there are lots of places serving pizza - Pizza Express is just around the corner in Golden Cross but hopefully we are bringing something new to the market and customers will like it.
"I’m very hopeful that we are over the worst of the pandemic - we are definitely seeing a lot more footfall in the city centre and more international tourists than there were a few months ago.”
A pizza margherita will cost £6.50 and customers can choose to add toppings for an extra 50p each.
“My favourite is a margherita with spinach, peppers, garlic and capers,” Mr Joye added.
Sartorelli’s started out in April 2020 and was designed to give West Oxfordshire residents a lift during the lockdowns when there were few opportunities to celebrate.
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Mr Joye said: “We set up in one week and orders came flying in. Locals were thrilled to have this fresh new bite right on their doorstep. We quickly outgrew our small oven and had to upgrade to a bigger one, meaning we could keep up with a growing demand. With our capacity increased and as lockdown measures eased, we set up a small area outside the brewery where people could enjoy our pizza fresh from the oven with beer from Church Hanbrewery.”
Now Sartorelli’s feelgood factor can also be found in the market.
It will open six days a week, 11am to 5.30pm from Tuesday to Sunday.
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