NEW 'LITTLE TOM' PIZZA WAGON HITS THE ROAD

Independent family brewer and pub company Shepherd Neame has unveiled its first pizza wagon, offering handmade sourdough pizzas to eat in or take away at its pubs.

The wagon, titled Little Tom due to its eye-catching tomato-red colour, has been adapted to incorporate a bespoke pizza oven along with fridges for the ingredients, and two hatches for the team to serve customers. 

In keeping with Shepherd Neame’s long beer heritage as Britain’s oldest brewer, it is decorated with hops, and the inscription ‘Master Bakers’ instead of Master Brewers.

All pizzas are made fresh to order, using handcrafted sourdough bases. Current topping options include the following: Pepperoni (tomato sauce, Pepperoni, Mozzarella, basil); Classic Margherita (roasted cherry tomatoes, Mozzarella and fresh basil, with a vegan cheese option available); Diablo (hot and spicy tomato sauce, ‘Nduja, meatballs, chillis, onion, pepper poppers, Mozzarella and sriracha); and Kent Garden (tomato sauce, spinach, olives, red peppers, mushrooms, basil, vegan cheese and cherry tomatoes). There are also doughballs available, served with a garlic butter.

Each pizza is delivered in a recyclable cardboard box featuring a bespoke Little Tom-branded sticker, with the name of the customer and the topping handwritten on it.

Shepherd Neame’s Head of Food Sang Nguyen said: “Pizza is always a popular choice with our customers, and now the Little Tom pizza wagon can allow us to offer fresh, handmade pizzas at any of our pubs and hotels. 

“Our teams have been trained in making the perfect sourdough for the base, and we are using the finest ingredients, locally sourced wherever possible for the toppings. We have seen a great reaction to the wagon, which is a real talking point wherever it goes.”

Little Tom is currently situated at the Ship and Trades in Chatham Maritime, where will be open from 4pm this Friday (August 23) and from 12 noon on Saturday (August 24). It will then be moving to The Limes in Faversham where it will be open during the Hop Festival weekend from 11.30am to 7.30pm on Saturday (August 31) and from 11.30am to 6pm on Sunday (September 1).