A Refreshing Change: Meet the Scottish Chef Serving Up Pineapple Pizzas
Key Highlights :
In a world of sugo snobs and 00 flour aficionados, it’s refreshing to find a chef who’s not afraid to scatter chunks of sickly sweet pineapple onto his pizzas. Peter Hibbert, the creative mastermind behind Glasgow based-Caesar’s Pizza, has been ditching the tired Hawaiian and instead pickling the forbidden fruit, pairing it with wild garlic and basil oil for the ‘Heathen’ pizza.
Originally from Ayrshire, Peter’s journey with Caesar’s began when he moved back to Scotland from London eight years ago, hoping to bring a taste of emerging culinary trends with him. He had been a photographer and a stay-at-home dad while in London and had watched the world of street food start to kick off. With that in mind, he bought a two-ton trailer with a massive oven on the back and went on to do events and weddings as the Muckle Backit Oven for about six years before moving to Glasgow to be closer to family.
Having settled in Glasgow, Peter soon sold his trusty trailer in favour of two small gas ovens which could easily be transported to outdoor markets across the city. Keeping busy between events, he began working with a focaccia shop which operated a pop-up kitchen upstairs at McNeill’s Bar on Torrisdale Street. Later, when the opportunity arose for him to take over the space himself, he was more than ready to bring his operation indoors. He bought a really basic electric oven for the tiny kitchen they have at McNeill’s and that’s how Caesar’s started. It’s been just over a year since then and Peter is still amazed at how successful it has been.
In addition to bringing a taste of emerging culinary trends to Glasgow, Caesar’s has also allowed Peter to build a great collection of people to work with. These new friends and suppliers including East Coast Cured, Connage Cheese and Locavore will no doubt prove valuable as Peter prepares to open his first brick-and-mortar restaurant on Clarkston Road in early August. Dubbed Caeser’s Social, the new space will allow the photographer-turned-chef to firmly lay his roots in the Southside after years of hard graft in street food-style kitchens.
At Caesar’s Social, Peter will be able to do much more than just pizza. He’ll be able to use his big green egg BBQ for Sunday lunches, play around with different ideas, and source Scottish ingredients from a variety of great producers. Peter is excited to finally have a space that he can call his own and can’t wait to start creating the kind of food he wants to eat himself.
Caesar’s Social is set to open at 2 Clarkston Road this summer. For updates follow them on social media here. In a world of sugo snobs and 00 flour aficionados, it’s refreshing to find a chef like Peter Hibbert who’s not afraid to scatter chunks of sickly sweet pineapple onto his pizzas. His journey with Caesar’s Pizza has been a long and winding one, but he’s finally ready to open his first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Glasgow and bring a taste of emerging culinary trends to the city. With a variety of great producers to work with, Peter is sure to create some delicious dishes in his new space. Keep an eye out for Caesar’s Social opening this summer!
