I don’t remember when I first read about Rolling in Dough, the Pizza Truck that hails out of Greenport, NY, but when I did I distinctly recall thinking – some day we have to, Have To, HAVE TO DO THIS! A self contained pizza party hosted out of a super cool harvester Pizza Truck!? Yes please… roll right this way. Apparently others shared this same reaction, because when I reached out to book in prior years they were – sad face – all booked up!
Even this year they were not able to accommodate my request for an evening party, but smartly circled back with some lunch time alternatives. Hmmm…a lunch time pizza party? That could work and boy did it ever! Thank you Maribeth for the counter suggestion. You may have just shifted our annual twin birthday party from the twilight hours to a lunchtime celebration. It was so pleasant to greet our guests earlier in the day. The lunchtime vibe with no sunset or late drives back through the Hamptons to consider resulted in a celebration that evolved at a very natural and relaxed pace.
For this afternoon gathering, party prep was distilled into an efficient 2 hour window vs. eating up big chunks of the day for an evening party. The old fashioned K-9 Harvester Pizza Truck rolling up and making itself at home on our driveway was the festive pièce de résistance!
As people had already made themselves comfortable in the back of our house – they had no idea that a self contained party was being set up out front. The truck was plugged in… tasteful tables with an admirable array of pizza toppings set out… the fire for the wood burning pizza oven was stoked up and music from Mumford and Sons was fired up on their sound system.
Our congenial pizza slingers – Matt (the originator of the concept and the business) and Dave – added as much to the party as their delicious ready to go after 3 minutes in the oven – pizza. They were all smiles, 100% professional, and fun to have around.
As a first timer, I didn’t really know how things would “roll”, but my pizza wizards patiently gave me some strategies to consider. We landed on the “lure the people to the pizza truck using pizza” strategy. They crafted some of their favorites (after we pointed out some of our favorite toppings – arugula and garlic for me – grilled onions and sausage for the hubs and cheese pizza – lots of cheese pizzas – for the teens).
Once some pies were completed I sauntered around the house with a slice of thin crust pizza on my plate (that they provided) to show my friends. And that was that! I don’t think people ran, but there was definitely an urgency in their clip as they made their way to this magical vehicle that was pumping out some super tasty ‘za. And that was the adults.
The kids were oblivious playing together in the pool. When told there was pizza they literally ran to get their fare share. They would run again later (playing a ferocious game of tag) and then again when our pizza guys announced “last call.” Custom pizzas were ordered – bacon was a surprisingly popular topping – and everyone enjoyed trying their own and/or other pizza inventions.
Some of the gluten free folks broke their gluten rule and friends who are usually more careful about their diet chucked down more pizzas slices than they would care to admit. The kids and took advantage of their bottomless stomachs and consumed pizzas at a Pac-Man pace while Matt and Dave kept slinging pizzas and smiles our way.
The aforementioned Matt and Dave’s minds must work in 3 minute increments because with no timer each pizza came out perfectly. I was told they could judge “doneness” by the type of sound being emitted from the sizzling pizza. Impressive! Sound based cooking was a new concept for me, but it sure worked for them. We had a full blown party standing in our driveway, which was a first, but won’t be the last for us. I think we may have landed on a new “must do” summer tradition for this family. Rolling in Dough – welcome to our summertime litany of traditions. You can park it in our driveway anytime. See you next summer!
Was best pizza ever. Still thinking about it.