A brand new pizzeria is set to launch in this North East town next week.
Crust will be opening its doors on Ridley Mews in Norton on Saturday (February 17) for a non-profit event for the Great North Air Ambulance Service, ahead of opening fully to the public in the coming weeks.
The business, owned by James Durham, 37, from Norton, will be serving up a range of pizzas including Neapolitan, Detroit and New York styles.
Mr Durham, who also operates the Flaming Dough pizza business, said a pizza trailer will be outside the eatery to serve customers woodfired pizzas.
He said: “My day job was a senior planning manager, I started Flaming Dough pizza trailer as a hobby in October 2021.
“From then on, meeting new customers every day, [and with] 60 to 70 per cent of our customers [being] people who come back to our trailer every week, having that relationship with our customers, the fact that they’re enjoying what we’re creating means a lot to us.
“The plan is to recreate it with Crust, hopefully, people will keep coming back.
“Last year, not enjoying my day job so much, didn’t feel like we were really achieving anything in my day job, it was more just [a] corporate world of pain.
“It didn’t really have this plan I’ve got now and what it was going to be, I’ve just seen the unit, fell in love with it, and growing up in Norton, had the idea to open up a place.”
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He said he started making and selling pizzas after making the quick decision to buy a trailer, and later converting it in October 2021, before launching in February 2022.
Mr Durham added the pizzeria will also serve focaccia, other forms of street food, pies, sandwiches, soup, freshly prepared salad boxes, brownies and coffee cake.
He added the business is a family-run venture consisting of him, his wife, daughter, sister, and niece.
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