From Classroom to Cult Pizza: Tom Vincent’s Vincenzo’s Phenomenon
When Tom Vincent built a pizza oven in his back garden, he didn’t realise it would set the course for a whole new career. Then, a teacher, he had researched every detail of how to build the perfect oven, and once it was standing there, gleaming and ready, he knew he had to start making the pizzas he had been “imagining in his head”. That simple act of building sparked the beginnings of Vincenzo’s, now one of the UK’s most talked-about pizzerias, which, surprisingly, only has 8 pizzas on the menu.
Vincenzo’s
Vincenzo’s started life in lockdown, with Tom serving pizza through a pub hatch in Bushey. He always “believed it would be a success”, but admits it’s grown beyond anything he could have predicted. “It’s surpassed my expectations,” he says. Today, the shop he built from an old sandwich shop sells out within an hour most days, with pizza obsessives travelling across the UK for a slice of his signature 12- and 18-inch thin crusts, aptly named ‘a London Pizza’, a cross between New York and Neapolitan.
His philosophy is simple: a slice should be “crispy and charred, but also juicy.” For Tom, less is always more. Good fermentation, a proper bake, and the best ingredients go further than “adding stuff you don’t need.” It’s a philosophy shaped in part by his pilgrimages to New York, where he would spend hours walking across Brooklyn and Manhattan in search of legendary coal-oven pizzerias he’d read about on blogs or seen on YouTube. Encounters with East Coast icons like Gio Lanzo of Luigi’s, Frank Pinello of Best Pizza and Paulie Gee himself cemented his vision. “They were incredibly kind and gave me advice I’ll always cherish,” he recalls, before exploring Naples: the wood-fired domes and flour-dusted hands that created magic.
Vincenzo’s
Back home, Vincenzo’s has taken on a life of its own. The slightly unconventional preorder-only model wasn’t a calculated marketing ploy, but rather a natural response to overwhelming demand. “It was kind of a perfect storm in a teacup,” Tom says of the hype, one that now sees hungry customers rushing to secure their spot before the day’s dough runs out. The frenzy has even caught out those unaware of the preorder system, turning up in Bushey only to be politely turned away. Tom’s advice: “Try ordering on a WEDNESDAY or THURSDAY if you miss out at the weekend. You will have no problem ordering on these days!”
Inside the shop, community takes centre stage. The walls are filled with fan artwork; pizza lovers sport Vincenzo’s caps and tees, and Tom has plans to launch a limited-edition fashion collection. “Community is important,” he explains. “Collaborating with brands we admire has always been a goal.” Beyond the shop, he’s also experimenting – bottling chilli oil and passata, collaborating on projects like Vinny’s West at The Barbary, and hinting that Vincenzo’s might evolve into something more than just a pizza joint. “I’d love to be considered a lifestyle brand as well as a pizza shop.”
Vincenzo’s
But rapid cult status comes with challenges. Running the business largely solo means Tom is constantly fielding messages from strangers, unsure which could be a golden opportunity. “It can be hard,” he admits, though he remains determined to keep hold of the independent, raw energy that’s defined Vincenzo’s so far. A second site may be on the cards, but if it happens, he insists he’ll design it closely himself: “I need to have full creative control so people know that it’s my work.”
For anyone dreaming of following in his footsteps, Tom is pragmatic: timing was everything. COVID gave him the space to leap, but he says that whatever your circumstances, the advice is the same: “follow your dream and be prepared to work really, really hard.”
Vincenzo’s
Away from the oven, Tom paints in oils, cooks fiery curries, and indulges in the occasional fry-up at a good café. Music in the kitchen is non-negotiable, whether it’s 80s new wave or 90s hip hop, and he couldn’t live without a little spice in his cooking. He looks up to the great masters of East Coast pizza - Frank Pepe and Dom DiMarco of Di Fara - and his most recent foodie splurge was a Japanese knife from Kitchen Provisions that, to his delight, “hasn’t needed sharpening once.” Most mornings, though, it’s the simple things that bring him joy. “My beautiful cats made me smile today,” he says with a grin as we spoke.
From garden-built oven to cult destination for Stormzy and Chase & Status, Vincenzo’s has grown into more than a neighbourhood pizza shop. It’s a slice of New York, a community hub, and for Tom Vincent, the proof that following your passion, with a little char, crisp, and chaos, can pay off in spades and slices.