Italian restaurant chain in London, Zia Lucia has decided to launch its own pizza school this September.
At the forefront of London's pizza renaissance, five years ago Zia Lucia launched its first independent pizzeria on Holloway Road bringing unusual doughs, delectable toppings and Italian community flair to North London, and has been a huge hit with locals ever since.
The brand has become renowned for its impressive selection of 48-hour slow-fermented doughs, including traditional white flour, wholemeal, gluten free and vegetable charcoal base.
Since the pandemic, founders Claudio Vescovo and Gianluca D'Angelo, like many others within the industry, have been struggling to find staff but more specifically pizza chefs.
In order to try and bridge the gap between staff shortages and those seeking work Zia Lucia have decided to launch its own 6-week pizza training school at Boxpark Wembley for those of any ability with guaranteed employment after.
A perfect example is Daniel - the team trained him having never cooked a pizza in his life before. He had a passion for food and was a very fast learner, and was a trained pizza chef within 5 weeks. Zia Lucia offered him a full time role as a Pizza Chef in its Highbury branch.
Vescovo and D'Angelo said, 'Pizzaiolo has been historically an art as opposed to a job. People tend to learn the art of pizza making very early when they are still young, especially when your parents own a pizzeria. It is a very rewarding profession and the learning curve is very steep.'
Since launching the Hollyway Road site, Zia Lucia has gone on to open further neighbourhood pizzerias in Aldgate East, Hammersmith, Wembley, Islington and most recently Wandsworth.