The team's favourite places with pizza ovens

Cooking al-fresco feels fitting when you’re on a Welsh safari. Stellar Safari Lodge evokes Serengeti adventures, but with oodles of modern comfort including an indoor bathroom. Located near Rhayader, the outdoor capital of Wales, it's easy to work up a hearty appetite with so many activities on the doorstep including hiking, horse riding, mountain biking and kayaking. Our Senior Business Development Manager Lisa loves the pizza oven here which is incorporated cleverly into the firepit. She said “my friends and I sat on the deck with plenty of wine, eating our pizzas and watching the sheep in the field opposite. It was a great end to a busy day.” Lisa likes a cheesy pizza with mozzarella and cheddar on a tomato base. She might add a few olives, some chilli flakes, salami and if she’s feeling fancy, maybe a couple of artichokes.

The Ooni pizza oven is the icing on the cake at the luxurious Pomeroy Treehouse in Somerset. That cake includes a Finnish-style sauna, outdoor shower for two, a rooftop terrace and grand outdoor tub. We can see why Sarah, our Senior Account Manager, chose it especially when the owners can provide a pizza pack to get you started. The pizza oven is part of the outdoor kitchen that also boasts a sink, BBQ and outdoor fridge, so there’s no need to traipse in and out with ingredients. It wasn’t Sarah’s first attempt at pizza making but it was definitely her most successful. She says: “we whipped up a couple of pizzas in seconds, eating them in our robes after emerging from the hot tub so it felt like a post-spa snack. We ate at the outdoor table looking out over miles of fields”. Sarah’s topping of choice is cheddar, mozzarella and chorizo on a tomato base with a bit of added garlic. She recommends a dash of fresh basil and some chilli jam to garnish.

Every day’s a party at palatial Journeyman Treehouse in Herefordshire. Built from renewable chestnut trees, it sleeps up to ten people who can congregate in the open-plan living space to eat, drink, be merry, play pool and make some noise on the musical instruments. If you’re visiting with a group, Max, our Marketing Executive, recommends turning the process of making the dough and cooking the pizzas into a fun activity. He says “I had a great pizza party with a group of my friends at Journeyman. I’d done it before, but for lots of my friends it was their first time and they loved the novelty of stretching the dough, making it on the peel, launching it and the speed it cooked at.” Once you’ve whipped up a batch of fresh pizzas that a Neapolitan chef would be proud of, it’s time to sit for hours in the sun on the deck feasting on your creations and gazing out at the woods. Max recommends his personal favourite, pepperoni and chilli honey, as a topping.

Luckily Hercules lives up to its name and is no shy, retiring wagon but a spacious Showman with spectacular views from the hot tub. It’s perched in the heart of Cornwall with easy access to both coasts, the moors and the Tamar Valley as well as The Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. It’s where Account Manager Jo would choose to cook up her perfect pizza after a day on the beach. She says “preparing the pizza and watching the sunset from the hot tub is the ideal set up” and we agree. It’s also the perfect spot to stargaze from as you digest your dinner and contemplate the next day’s adventures. Cycle The Camel Trail, visit the markets in Tavistock, explore Tintagel Castle or just potter around Spring Park birdwatching and admiring the other colourful wagons on the site.

On a private island in Somerset, The Nancy Blackett is Marketing Manager David West’s top choice for a peaceful pizza party. As the proud owner of an Ooni at home, David knows his onions (and his mozzarella) when it comes to home cooked pizzas, so when he talks about toppings, we listen. His favourites are Pepperoni, n’duja, hot honey and pineapple, but not all at once (unless no-one’s watching). In true pro style, David made his dough at home in Bristol so that it was perfectly proved by the time he’d arrived at the shepherd’s hut. He says: “I enjoyed chopping my own wood for the oven with an axe. It was also great that they had fireproof pans, as it meant you could make the pizza in the frying pan instead of trying to get it on and off a peel. There’s less chance of ending up with a mess on the floor which makes this technique perfect for beginners.”