Three-minute artisan pizzeria selling Nutella pizza opens in city centre

An artisan pizzeria - which promises to have your food ready in just 180 seconds - has opened in St Benedicts Street. 

Fireaway Pizza was launched five years ago by Mario Aleppo in a single store in south London but now the brand has grown to 61 stores and turns over £500,000 a week. 

The founder said it has been a hit in Norwich thanks to the brand's authentic offering - and fun items on the menu like a Nutella pizza. 

He said: "Norwich is a really lovely, historic city. I think what's worked so well is that there's a great offering for authentic and artisan food which - even though we franchise our brand - is where we started and how we operate. 

"We still get the vast majority of our ingredients - particularly the key ones like tomato sauce, cheese, and items for our bases - from Naples in Italy which really adds a level of quality. When you look at the price of our pizzas compared to competitors it's also very reasonable. 

"I think that and the fact that our pizzas only take 180 seconds to cook is why the business has done so well. It's perfect for people who haven't got ages to wait but it's also cooked perfectly because our ovens are so hot."

The fact that customers can see their items being cooked in the open kitchen is also a driver for demand, Mr Aleppo added. 

The business now has more than 60 stores - including franchised sites - and still has a raft of new openings to come including Bradford, Coventry and Andover. 

He said: "We were opening stores - at least one every month - right the way through the pandemic. We had them planned to open to we couldn't change our mind and even though we couldn't have customers sit in demand for takeaway and delivery was so high our output stayed about the same."