“It’s a calling that has been with me, but professionally it’s something that had always eluded me,” Gareth Edwards tells me, as I ask what inspired him to get into cooking.
The now 50-year-old will be a familiar face to many, having run his successful street food venture Coastal Pizza since July 2021.
It operates from a retro-styled Rocket trailer and sells handcrafted Neapolitan pizza along the Moray coast.
From Findochty, Gareth “always had a deep interest” in cooking.
“My first patch as a cub scout was for cooking,” he adds.
“My wife Sarah and I had been out working in Germany for almost 10 years when a redundancy opportunity found me heading to Italy for an eight-week pizza/focaccia course at ICIF [the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners].
“Then it was ‘how do we start a business?’ and things grew from there.”
Coastal Pizza: why Gareth considers Neapolitan ‘the greatest pizza out there’
Despite usually running the trailer as a one-man band, Gareth went on to say his “wonderful wife, friends and neighbours” assist at private events.
I asked why he decided to focus the business’ offering around pizza, and more specifically Neapolitan.
He said: “It’s the greatest pizza out there.
“It’s probably the best pizza you can make from a mobile kitchen, and definitely the quickest which is the most important factor when running a mobile food trailer.
“Why pizza? It’s so flexible with what you can serve on it, with pretty much endless possibilities. I’m feeling hungry just thinking about it.”
The pizza maker uses local and Italian suppliers for his ingredients, such as Carnevale, Cluny Fish (Buckie) and Speyfruit (Elgin).
“If you want Italian, you have to go Italian,” he adds.
Let’s take a closer look at the menu…
When asked to describe the Coastal Pizza menu, Gareth went on to say: “A throw of the dice of traditional, fusion, regional and the odd abomination.
“One of my Italian suppliers has a vast selection of salami which allows me a lot of scope on my ‘salami tsunami’ pizza.
“Jimmy from Findochty catches mackerel, and marinades and smokes these fantastic fish. They go wonderfully with thinly sliced onion and sun blushed tomatoes.
“Several times in the summer I end up with lobsters, and these kings of the sea are served with samphire and nduja. They sell out instantly!
“I’m working on a Dahl pizza so we’ll see how that turns out!”
Some of his menu highlights, which changes weekly, include:
- ‘Forbidden fruit’ – comprising tomato, mozzarella, ham, pineapple puree and basil
- ‘Spice Oddity’ – featuring tomato, mozzarella, Calabrian salami, nduja, sweet onion and oregano
- And of course good old reliables, like margherita.
However, pepperoni is the most favoured topping.
Gareth said: “I use a Hungarian-cured sausage, which is heavily smoked with little to no heat, and it smells incredible coming out of the chimney.”
Coastal Pizza is open two-to-four times a week (weather dependent) during lunchtime or late afternoon and into the early evening.
It operates in Findochty, Cullen and at several local monthly markets, including Foggie Market and Banff Castle Market.
Visit the Coastal Pizza Facebook page to keep up-to-date on its whereabouts.
Gareth is ‘ever grateful’ for the people he has met along the way
The business owner says the relationships he has made with fellow food traders, event organisers and other businesses “are as important as the customers that come by for a pizza”.
“Friendships are born,” Gareth adds.
“I’m forever thankful of my customers because without them, I’m nothing but a tin can with an oven. But also the food trader community which I feel part of.
“For me, what’s been most surprising is how much other businesses have been there to help when they can.
“Living and trading from Moray, geographically distant from Scotland’s metropolis, via SpeyFruit I have access to a Glasgow-based wholesaler which is crucial to my business.
“Why do they do this? Because they can and they like to see other local businesses succeed.
“What I’m really saying is it’s the people you meet and get to know on the journey that give your dream a chance at coming true. For that I am ever grateful.”
Conversation