A New York City chef is turning heads by baking fresh pizzas out of the trunk of a tiny Smart car. Bradley Alvelo, 38, runs a mobile micro-pizzeria he calls Pizza Pod, which he bills as the city’s smallest pizzeria. A Culinary Institute of America graduate with about 20 years of cooking experience, he was inspired after being laid off from corporate dining, where he missed the human connection. He crammed two ovens into the two-seater, powered by a portable generator, and now pops up on street corners outside coffee shops, wine bars, and breweries across Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as at private events and rooftops.
Right in front of customers, he bakes nine kinds of 12-inch stone-fired pies selling for $16 to $20, including a guava pepperoni pizza that nods to his Puerto Rican heritage. Crowds often stop midstride, stunned to see pizza emerging from a car. Alvelo treats the setup as a test phase before opening a brick-and-mortar shop, wanting to prove people love the product first. He says the connection with regulars is his favorite part.
Source: CNBC
