The food and beverage industry in Bengaluru is undergoing a sea of change at the moment as young entrepreneurs, restaurateurs and hoteliers find new and quirky ways to make a mark in the booming metropolitan’s gastronomic olympics. Cut-throat competition among the established and newbie fast food joints looking to reinvent food as we know it, catering to a niche clientele—it’s hard for businesses to stay on top. Yet, taking a slice out of this notion is one of Bangalore’s most loved pizzerias, ‘Brik Oven’ who have successfully launched the city’s first mobile pizza oven.
The joint venture between Cordon Bleu Chef Anirudh Nopany and connoisseur of desserts Sreeram Anvesh, has managed to establish itself thoroughly since they opened their doors in January last year. That wasn’t enough for the maverick duo, who thought about the idea when they began to think about expansion. Chef Anirudh explains, “The idea of the Brik-Mobile came up when we were thinking of expanding. We thought instead of putting our resources into another store, why not create a new and fun concept of a travelling oven. I woke up one day and sent Anvesh a design of the oven on a trailer, hitched behind a car. We immediately contacted our designers and started on the project in October last year.”
However, bridging the gap between conceptualization, design and execution was another ball game in itself when it came to making piping hot and fresh pizzas on the go. “We first imagined the trailer being hitched behind Anvesh’s Suzuki swift, which would have been a disaster since the entire oven weighed 2 tonnes. We immediately started looking for an alternative which came in the form of the Isuzu Dmax. It had just been launched a few months back and we had our hearts set it. We pooled in our savings and immediately bought it as our company car!” exclaims Chef Anirudh.
At first, one might think that the pizza oven does look a tad rudimentary although given its functionality, it is anything but. The oven is placed on a trailer capable of holding the oven, a fridge, a generator and a planetary mixer for the dough. Several iterations saw the design undergo changes to restrict the overall weight while also accommodating tables; as well as a cage to store firewood (yes, wood fired pizzas on the go!) But as is the case with most inventions, there’s always that one accident that turns out to be a catalyst for perfection...which is exactly what happened. The first prototype never saw the light of day due to a transportation accident at the fabricator’s yard. This did not deter Anirudh and Anvesh though, as they reconstructed the entire project from scratch, completing it in April.
Since then, the lads have already found takers for their Mozzarella Mobile, snapping up their first order for J W Marriott soon after. Catering and ‘Pop-up pizza’ stops are the main focus of the exercise Anirudh says, especially as the ‘barrier’ location is more or less removed with consummate ease, and people will get to see the oven in action once the monsoon season passes.
So Bangalore, keep an eye out and some oregano handy, because you never know when the Brik-Mobile might just be around the corner!