A chef at a Michelin star restaurant who has brought Italian style and vintage vehicles to the world of mobile catering has kept his business going through the Covid-19 lockdown by switching to home delivery.<\/p>\n
Alex Vincenzo Miraglia runs Altieri Catering from the Lock Stock Storage Park on Saltney\u2019s River Lane and after just 12 months in business had already built up an impressive list of clients including the Leeds Festival, Stafford Classic Motorcycle Show and Kelsall Steam Rally.<\/p>\n
Alex, from Naples, the home of pizza, has worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Milan and five-star hotels in Italy before coming to the UK where last year he decided to branch out on his own.<\/p>\n
Then came lockdown in March and the cancellation of all those events but Alex has adapted and moved a trailer equipped with a portable brick-lined pizza oven from the Lock Stock site on River Lane, Saltney, to the drive of his home in Hoole in Chester and started baking.<\/p>\n
He is already cooking and delivering up to 100 pizzas a day during busy weekends with customers and has also started adding Greek-style gyros, meat cooked on a rotary skewer, to his menu.<\/p>\n
Still at Lock Stock and ready for a return to normal trading are his converted 1951 Morris Commercial van, a refrigerated van for the Italian foodstuffs he uses, durum wheat flour, buffalo mozzarella, cured meats and sausage, herbs and olive oil, and a 1942 Morris van with a working engine which is awaiting a refurb before it joins the Altieri fleet.<\/p>\n
Alex, 33, who lives in Chester, with his partner and their children, said: \u201cI came here to work in a restaurant chain four years ago but I saw there was a market for mobile catering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea was to give it an Italian flavour and to make it high quality with ingredients from Italy which cost a bit more but are worth it for the taste.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was amazed at how quickly it grew but then came the virus and I had to do something so I switched to home deliveries and we\u2019ve been amazed how busy we have been.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vans are amazing \u2013 I think the 1951 model is the only one of its kind in catering and we have equipped it to sell Greek-style gyros, meat sliced from a vertical skewer while the trailer is for the pizza oven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now instead of touring the country and showing up at some of the UK\u2019s biggest events, weddings and private parties, their distinctive converted trailer is kept increasingly busy at home.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s Italian-made wood-fired brick oven heats up to a sizzling 500C and is capable of turning out 120 pizzas an hour \u2013 cooking two of those glorious golden discs of dough with their toppings of San Marzano tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and fragrant basil in under a minute.<\/p>\n
Lock Stock Site Manager Mike Trow can vouch for the quality and he said: \u201cThey\u2019re gorgeous, you can definitely taste the difference and I\u2019m really impressed with the vehicles as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex had got a great business idea but he\u2019s shown how adaptable he is and we\u2019re also providing him with a storage unit here which houses his fridges and freezers as we have a full electric supply ready for when his mobile business returns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe units are ideal for businesses because they\u2019re fully insulated and secure with 24\/7 access, the units come in a variety of sizes and, of course, they free of business rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lock Stock have 360 units at Saltney, all painted in their distinctive dark green livery, and all are eight foot high by eight foot wide and come in 10, 20 and 40 foot lengths with storage capacities ranging from 640 cubic feet to 2,560 cubic feet.<\/p>\n
Alex added: \u201cLock Stock in Saltney is a perfect place for us \u2013 we keep our catering vehicles here as it\u2019s a great location and very secure.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now the takeaways are doing well and some days we have three of us here preparing and cooking the pizzas with two on deliveries to a six-mile radius.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re not too busy we can get a genuine Italian pizza to you piping hot in 20 minutes \u2013 how\u2019s that for service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lock Stock began in Denbigh in 1999 and now as well as offering units to hire on their sites they sell a range of used and new containers delivered by their specialist lorry \u2013 they also sell fireworks at Saltney and Llandudno Junction all year, seasonally at Denbigh, Rhyl, Shrewsbury and Wrexham, and on-line.<\/p>\n
For more information on Lock Stock go to http:\/\/www.lockstock.biz\/<\/a> and for more on Altieri Catering go to https:\/\/www.altieri.info\/<\/a> and to check the menu go to www.altieri.info\/menu<\/a> and send your order on 07763 206199 or with ubereats.<\/p>\n