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OUR STORY
PIZZA HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF MY LIFE
From a young age, it has been a family affair. My parents made pizzas for every celebration we had at home, and my earliest memories are intertwined with these experiences.
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During my university years, I often made pizzas for my friends, and we would gather to enjoy dinner together while watching football or movies. However, it wasn't until 2017 that I began working in a pizzeria—a summer job, like many others, while I was studying.
I started in the kitchen, chopping peppers, onions, and anything else that was needed. It took several weeks before I gradually began working with the pizzas themselves, and that’s when this romance began a passion that I have no doubt will last forever in one way or another.
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Before establishing Viti, I ran a food truck, making pizzas all over the island, from Belfast and Portaferry to North Coast and Dublin until one day, Viti Pizzeria found a physical location in the beer garden of Bullhouse East.
​At Viti, I don't aim to make the best pizza because that is highly personal and subjective. Instead, I focus on making each pizza with passion and love; that is non-negotiable. I also strive to ensure that our staff feels valued in the workplace. I want everyone to enjoy their weekends off and have vacations in the summer, things that are not very common in hospitality. I always say that life is more important than work, and I try to stay true to my values. I aim to create a culture where we genuinely enjoy our work. In addition to making something delicious, I want to create a positive impact by making pizzas, paying decent wages to employees because we are artists creating works of art that people call pizza. Therefore, we cannot rush the process and we appreciate all the customers who wait patiently and kindly while we prepare our pizzas with love and passion.​​​
​Finally, and perhaps most importantly, at Viti, there are several "rules" that I emphasize constantly because humans tend to forget things easily.
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“Cook each pizza as if you are making it for someone you love.” If your partner, a friend, or a family member came to eat pizzas, would you add extra pepperoni without them asking? Would you take a little more time to ensure everything is as good as possible? That’s what we try to do with each pizza, as if it were for someone special to us.
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“We are a team.” I have played football my entire life, since I can remember and I will continue to do so until my body allows. One does not abandon a passion. I learned a very basic but important concept: in a team, EVERYONE is equally important goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward, substitutes… EVERYONE. Our success or failure depends on all of us, and I repeat, no one is more important.​
​​Messi is considered the greatest football player in history at least the player with the most Ballon d'Or awards, so by statistics, we could say he is the best. Yet, there are still people who disagree. How does this apply to Viti? I cannot expect Viti to be everyone’s favorite pizza because we all have different tastes. Therefore, we don’t do things expecting someone to say we are their favorite pizzeria, but we do work with that enthusiasm.
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“I have never heard Messi say he is the best player in history.” Therefore, we will never say we are the best. Humility is very important, and if someone claims that another place is better than Viti, I will be the first to visit that pizzeria and try to learn new things to apply at our workplace because we can always, always, always learn.
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“Perfection takes time.” In our fast-paced lives, it’s easy to forget to slow down and savour the moment. Remember, “perfection takes time.” I try to remind myself of this every day, especially on weekends when customers come in non-stop. Instead of rushing the staff, I tell them, “Relax, guys, we can do this.” I believe there is a significant difference between working quickly and working under pressure. At Viti, we do not work under pressure; we work quickly. We are simply making pizza—again, we are simply making pizzas. Working under pressure and with stress is unhealthy, so we work quickly, remembering that we are creating art, that we do things with love and passion, and that enjoying what we do is very important.
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Thank you.​
David Cariaga - Viti.