New Pizzeria Preps to Open
View from the Second floor shows carpenters at work – photos 250News
Prince George B.C. – It may be called Betulla Burning, but the name has nothing to do with a fire which destroyed the previous building on the Third Avenue site.
Garrett Fedorkiw outside the new Betulla Burning
It was May of 2015 when the site , undergoing renovations to become the new pizzeria , went up in flames. “We decided on the name Betulla Burning, before we had the fire that destroyed the building in May 2015” says co-owner Garret Fedorkiw.
“Betulla is the Italian name for ‘birch’ and birch is the wood we will be burning in the fire” adds Fedorkiw. The fire he refers to is what heats up the 6 thousand pound oven that came direct from Naples. “We commissioned one of the top builders, 3rd generation pizza oven builder, to build our oven in Naples Italy. Our oven is massive, wood fired, and the focus of our entire restaurant.”
As luck would have it, the oven was being shipped in the spring of 2015 and initially landed at a port in Texas. The port was on strike at the time and the oven had to sit there until the labour dispute could be settled, a good thing too, because had it arrived as originally planned, it would have been in place in the building when the building burned in May of that year.
The entire restaurant has been designed so the oven is the focal point, creating what Fedorkiw calls “pizza theatre” , where the kitchen where the pizzas are cooked is front row center of the restaurant , on view for everyone to watch.
Fedorkiw says they are sourcing the ingredients for the pizzas from regional farmers, and have even discovered wild mushrooms in the region. In addition to supplies from regional farmers, Betulla Burning is curing meat and growing its own mushrooms on site in two specially designed compartments. The humidity from the meat curing operation is being re-directed to the mushroom growing facility.
Staff practice making pizza
Fedorkiw and business partner Eoin Foley have already achieved success with neighbouring Nancy O’s restaurant which opened 7 years ago. ” I remember when we opened we had a cash advancer on one side and two pawn shops on the other and we thought nothing of it. The only place where you can find great character, atmosphere and community in our City is downtown, so this is where we had to be.”
Certainly the mood in downtown Prince George has changed over the past couple of years, as others make the decision to locate their business in the core, “There has never before been a buzz about downtown as there is right now, it’s pretty incredible” says Fedorkiw who predicts good things for the downtown “There’s a lot going on down here. It takes time to get to that tipping point where it happens, slowly, slowly, then it takes off exponentially once other investors see it’s working, so I think we are getting close ( to the tipping point) I feel it.”
Staff have been training over the past week, and carpenters are putting the final touches on counter areas but Fedorkiw is hopeful Betulla Burning will have a “soft” opening next week and a grand opening shortly after that.
Comments
Good idea, awful part of town with all the crackheads and homeless. Hope they can deal with that and become a success.
It’s a totally fine part of town you pansy. There will always be addicts and homeless in any urban centre; PG is no different than anywhere else. Even more, just because there are down and out people doesn’t mean that they are violent or out to get you, they’re down there because that’s where many of the social services are.
There are some great entrepreneurs that are completely changing our downtown for the better. Look at Kask, Copper Pig, Nancy O’s, White Goose, etc. Many of the old buildings are being fixed up too–check out the old Growlies Pizza location. I haven’t seen downtown in such a good place in years!
agree on all counts!!!
Cool , enjoy getting verbally and spit on by the undesirables in the area. I walk the area every day for work, ask anyone who has endured that area on a daily basis. The lunch crowd is no problem. The zombies come out around 2 pm, hang out till midnight.
I hope the business does well.
One of the reasons I do not like to eat at Nancy O’s is bewcause I find it to be one of the darkest, dingiest atmospheres in town.
This place does quite the opposite, even though it too is on the south side of the street and cannot take much advantage of the south light. They have, however, done so by building the hight ceiling which allowed for windows to be opened up to the south. The sunlight can be seen shining in.
So now that we know all about the oven, how about someone telling us about the architect/designer who did the design? In town? Out of town?
This is what I like about Prince George. Entrepreneurs taking chances like this to make Prince George the great place it is. The story of the oven says it all. It was meant to be! This is certainly a place I will go to eat. Purchasing ingredients from regional farmers and growing their own mushrooms!! These are the kind of ideas that bring success to everyone!
First, kraft beer, and now kraft mushrooms. :-)
Of course, for us old timers this is nothing new. We had this and more before and it is part of what drew me to move here.
I call this a re-awakening.
I am seeing more and more people downtown after work and on weekends.. looking like there is a slow bit if downtown revitalization…all this without one peep from city hall.. way to go business owners for giving us back our diwtiwn…it may be slow but at least we are seeing something :-)
If the owners of Betulla Burning need some inspiration with their menu check out Nicli Antica Pizzeria in Gastown.
I do not like Neapolitan Pizza. It is basically the dough, tomatoes, sauce, cheese, basil, garlic and cheese. Properly baked in 90 seconds it typically has a soupy center and sparse toppings.
I call it a poor man’s pizza, or quick snack for others and can be purchased at sit down streetside pizzerias in Naples for about 3 Euros (C$4.50) for a Margherita or 2.5 Euros for a Marinara which comes without cheese.
Want to eat in on the run like pizza slice in Canada, a smaller piece can be purchased for a Euro (C$1.50). In Canada a slice is typically around C$3 for a margherita style to $4 for a pepperoni topping.
In a traditional restaurant in Rome, a margherita pizza can cost around 7 Euros (C$10.00) with a Marinara 6 Euro (C$8.50).
Sit down at Earl’s and it is C$13.50 from their wood fired oven for a Margherita Pizza.
I prefer Pizza in Detroit or Chicago style. Deep Dish. It is a nutritious meal and worth the price.
Looking forward to see the Betulla Burning menu and going there to try it out.
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