INTERVIEW: The Pizza Boat

Marlow loves Pirate Pizza!

We popped down to revisit our new friends at “Pirate Pizza”, aka The Pizza Boat on the river in Higginson Park. The day they arrived in town last week, we posted details on Facebook. That post got over 700 Likes, 250 comments, umpteen shares – and, unbelievably,  was seen by 45,000 Facebook users. By all accounts most of these descended on the boat the next day – they had their busiest day by far since they started their journey!  It even inspired them to set up their own Facebook page!

The pizzas

First thing, the pizzas are superb – thin, and crispy and made from dough which is made onsite daily – and only £10. They are open for takeaways from 12 noon to 9pm daily, whilst they are in town. They hope to be here for about 1 more week from today, but they have no fixed plans – that’s the beauty of being on a boat! They do have some issues with WDC, more of that later…

The story

The man making the pizzas is Dan, a trained chef, who is spending the summer on the boat with his 5 year old daughter, together with his friend Justin who owns the boat.

Dan is a single dad, and his daughter was only 3 months old when her mother sadly died. Dan simply wants to spend the summer making happy memories with her, having fun and adventures with her on a boat.  They have loved the interaction from the friendly folk they have met on the journey so far, especially in Marlow!

The WDC Issue

We had planned to just drop in for a catch up, but before we arrived the crew had a visit from someone at Wycombe District Council. They were told it was not possible for them to trade any more.  This does seem a shame as Pirate Pizza have put a smile on all our faces, and are of course knocking out great pizzas for a tenner!  Apparently during the conversation with WDC, one of Dan’s responses was “but I AM a pirate!”

As is stands now, it looks like the crew will try and hold out for as long as they can. They want to engage with WDC to understand what the problem is, what permits might be needed and so on.  They do have a “Food Premises Licence” and traded in Henley with no issues, it seems.

But one thing is clear – get back down ASAP and buy your pizzas – the more they sell, the longer they are likely to stay – and they might be forced out at some point! GRRRR!

Keep up to date with events, and by all means message them your support on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Pirate-Pizza-462250624160873/