Get to Know a Mobile Vendor: Pizza Boat

Pizza Boat crafts wood-fired pies in a jiffy, normally outside Bar Marco in the Strip.

PIZZA BOAT SERVES PIES CURBSIDE
Jeff Ryan and Matt Watson were raised in the area and left for a while to live in larger cities. The boomerangs met in their early 20s while residing in the Big Apple and working in the restaurant industry. Last year they developed their business plan for Pizza Boat, a mobile business utilizing a wood-fire oven. They rapidly make nine-inch pies most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays outside Bar Marco in the Strip; the friends have taken their "deconstructed food truck" to special events as well.

Pies contain fresh ingredients from purveyors including Parma Sausage, and choices cover the usual options – cheese, margherita — but have thoughtful touches. For now, the owners enjoy the  running a mobile business, though they continue to consider and field questions about future plans.

"We enjoy the relative simplicity that comes with running a kitchen that you can pack up and take with you," says Ryan. "And we also believe that this city could use more diverse restaurant formats, street food being a great and affordable one."

(Vends at 10:30 a.m-2:30 p.m. most Fridays-Sundays at 23rd and Penn Avenue, Strip District; pizzaboatpgh.com; photo courtesy Pizza Boat)
— Kristina Martin, PM Associate Editor

Find @PizzaBoatPgh with our help by following @PGHmagEAT.

PHIPPS MARKET RETURNS
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has matched to fine things: crisp produce and fauna. Every Wednesday through October, Farmers at Phipps will set up from 2:30-6:30 p.m., featuring producers of organic and naturally grown food. Vendors from Blackberry Meadows Farm, Clarion River Organics, Friendship Farms, Pancake Tree Farm and Una Biologicals, among others, will gather to contribute to spread of goods for sale.

(One Schenley Drive, Oakland; farmers market: Wednesdays, 2:30-6:30 p.m., through October; 412/622-6914, phipps.conservatory.org)
— Joelle Smith, PM Editorial Intern

MILKMAN BREWING FILLS GROWLERS, GLASSES
The four good-humored partners of Milkman Brewing enjoy deviating from the norm. They say that the goal is for each of their housemade varieties to be interesting and approachable; options include Peppercorn Rye, with green, white and black peppercorns, and the aptly named Wedding Saison, available now. The crew recently opened the doors of their Strip District space, which doubles as a brewery and tasting joint. If you're headed for Bayardstown Social Club or somewhere nearby this weekend, consider stopping in during pouring hours; this is a neat spot to kick off your evening.

(2517 Penn Ave., Strip District; open Friday-Sunday; info@milkmannbrewing.com, blog.milkmanbrewing.com)
— K.M.