Before 2017
The day his back gave out
Simon spent his working life with children and young people. Then his back gave out, and he was signed off sick. For a man who had always been busy helping other people, the quiet was the hardest part.
18 August 2017
Born on Michelle’s birthday
Michelle has been by his side since 2001. So when Simon J's Pizzeria finally opened its hatch, it opened on her birthday. They still call it a double celebration. In their words, it was "something to keep Simon out of mischief".
2017
Llanelli market
It began in Llanelli, at the outdoor market on Thursdays and Saturdays. Dough made by hand, a secret tomato sauce, 100% mozzarella and a wood fire. Margherita, four cheese, veg galore and garlic. People came back. Then they brought their friends.
2018
Kidwelly, from day one
When Marchnad Cydweli started in 2018, Simon J's was there. Eight years on, they're still there on the first Saturday of the month, in the sun in summer and indoors when winter comes.
Every week
A little girl and her sweets
Their customers watched Daisy grow up. First she was the little girl selling her sweets and treats outside the van. Now she's in the back of it, trained up and qualified in her own right. Her boyfriend Lucas is on the pizza paddles too, so you can even order in Welsh.
Since 2003
Ferdie, the lean mean pizza machine
Ferdie is a red VW LT35 who's older than Daisy. He has failed the odd MOT. He lost his exhaust on the way to Moylgrove. One winter Simon rebuilt his floor by hand. He wears bows for weddings. Inside him burns the wood-fired oven that has cooked every pizza since the start.
The hard days
Family always comes first
Some days his back still has its say. Some nights there's a family event, or it's too hot in the van, or Ferdie needs a rest. When that happens they tell you straight, because family always comes first. Then they're back, lighting the fire again.
Now
Every blessing
Nine years on, Simon still hand stretches every pizza to order. Beach nights at Ferryside. Village halls. Weddings for 150 guests. Workshops where children make their very first pizza. A share of the takings goes to the Ferryside lifeboat every year. And it still starts the same way: a ball of dough, a fire, and a man who couldn't sit still.
Our green promise
Proper ingredients, done properly
- Local firstWe buy from other traders and Llanelli market stallholders rather than supermarkets whenever we can.
- Made from scratchOur own dough and our own secret sauce, never from a jar.
- Wood from nearbyOur logs come from local places, like a farm cutting back its hedges.
- Barely any wasteCard boxes and paper plates. Less than half a bag of landfill after a big event.
- Giving backA share of our sales goes to the Ferryside lifeboat every year.
