Former engineer Alistair Adams turned a “complete pile of scrap” into the Blazin Pizza food truck he now runs with his wife, Julie.
The Highland-based pizza truck all started from “a conversation with a mate back in 2020”, Alistair tells me.
Alistair previously worked as a manufacturing engineer in the automotive industry, before moving to Inverness and taking up various handyman jobs.
Looking for a change, the idea for a pizza truck came about.
“We decided to go out, buy a trailer off Facebook,” says the 54-year-old.
“It was basically a complete pile of scrap – rust held together with paint.
“I began to strip it down completely, every rivet and bolt, and I rebuilt it from scratch.
“That was basically how I spent lockdown. It took about five months, give or take.”
How is Blazin Pizza going?
The pizza truck has been up and running since then, with the husband-and-wife team serving up pizzas around areas like Kirkhill, Muir of Ord, Dingwall and Kiltarlity.
Alistair and Julie also attend weddings and other events like the Braemar Gathering.
“I was a bit nervous to start with, but you just pick it up and learn as you go,” says Alistair, who had no experience with the food and drink industry before opening Blazin Pizza.
“That’s where my engineering background comes in,” he adds, “because it’s all about productivity and being efficient.
“The most nerve-wracking thing was when we went to do our first major event, and were selling to the general public.
“We ended up with this massive queue – and it’s just a case of ‘oh god, do we have enough dough?’
“You just can’t stop. We’ve done the Braemar Gathering, and we ended up making around 200 pizzas.
“We were constantly making pizzas for five or six hours.
“You get into a groove, and then at the end of it, you just collapse,” he laughs.
Highland food truck tries hard to offer ‘a proper pizza’
The menu at the Blazin Pizza truck includes some of the usual suspects, like pepperoni and margherita pizza.
But their barbecue chicken pizza is also popular with their regulars, says Alistair.
“We do try to make a proper pizza,” he says.
“The dough is all hand stretched, handmade to my recipe. We try to give people a good quality pizza that is restaurant quality.
“We make a Neapolitan-style pizza. They’re cooked in a wood-fired oven for about 90 seconds.
“We try to, where we can, use Italian cheese, tomatoes and other ingredients, to make the pizzas as authentic as possible.
“We mix and match the menu a bit. But people tend to go for what they enjoy rather than trying the new ones.
“Our barbecue chicken pizza, for instance: I took that off the menu once, and I was almost lynched,” he laughs.
The work-life balance for Alistair and Julie is a great change of pace.
“It’s a really nice lifestyle,” adds Alistair, “it’s full-on for four days a week, let’s say, but you get good downtime in between.
“It gives you a real satisfaction all the time.”
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