St. Norbert Farmer’s Market, Winnipeg: It’s Saturday, just after 7 am. The perfect time for a pizza.
It’s not just Steffen Zinn who thinks so. As Zinn readies his pizza oven on wheels, the Hungry are already starting to circle The Red Ember, one of the largest food trucks in existence.
The truck rolls seven days a week, from mid-May to mid-October. Whether you’re looking for lunch on Broadway, or feeling peckish while picking up farm-fresh eggs, it’s pretty hard to miss this 32-footer.
“For now, it’s definitely the largest food truck in Winnipeg,” said Zinn, now in season two of rapid firing his pizza creations, from raw to cooked in one minute and thirty seconds flat.
Firing up
Food has long been the primary thought for Zinn, who entered into the culinary arts through vocational schooling at the age of 16. He rose through the ranks, making it all the way to Executive Chef, at the Pine Ridge Golf Club outside Winnipeg, a position he held for seven years. However, just like the right amount of spice, something was missing.
“I come from a large family of entrepreneurs,” said Zinn, who left the brick and mortar kitchen in 2012. He considered catering, as well as opening his own restaurant.
“I figured that the food truck would be the most economical way to start,” he said. “The truck could help pay for the eventual restaurant, while building a loyal following.”
Mobile oven
The ‘engine’ of The Red Ember hails from Bellingham, Washington, the home of the Wood Stone Corporation. The selection of the oven involved tasty tests at the company’s factory.
The unit is a traditional stone hearth oven, a wood and gas combination, which is able to handle about 120 10-inch diameter pizzas per hour.
“It takes about a minute and a half to cook a pizza,” said Zinn. “Even a few seconds can make a huge difference.”
The truck
The truck foundation is a 2002 Freightliner FL70, which started life as the cab and chassis for a Ryder rental truck. Taking a page from the up-cycling trends for steel storage containers, Zinn made a $40 investment, for a simple CAD program.
“This is the biggest project I’ve ever done,” said Zinn, who designed a unique street level service counter into the re-configured storage container.
“That’s where the Pit Girl lives,” said Zinn. She’s one of the many folks who work to keep the Red Ember alive. They all have unique handles: there’s Dough Puncher, First Topper, Second Topper, and The Oven Man.
“Sometimes, the Pit Girl becomes the Pit Boss,” said Zinn. When the orders are starting to back up, it’s the job of the Pit Girl to slow the pace. “That’s when she’ll get chattier with the customers.”
Adding to the customer experience is a professional grade flat screen menu board, as well as a top notch public address system. (“There’s nothing worse than not hearing when your pizza is ready,” said Zinn.) In addition to the design, Zinn is responsible for 90 percent of the fabrication of The Red Ember, including the basecoat/clearcoat finish.
Legislating pizza
The typical work week sees The Red Ember at the curbside on Broadway in Winnipeg, near the Manitoba Legislative Building. “There’s a lot less drama at that end of Broadway,” said Zinn.
Competition for the prime parking spots on Broadway has been known to get as hot as the inside of a pizza oven. Zinn keeps his customers in the know, with regular Twitter and Facebook updates. The demise of the traditional parking meter means the space occupied by the truck is truly petty cash, just one Loonie per hour, regardless of the size of the vehicle.
The Winnipeg Parking Authority allows food trucks to plug the meters throughout the day. When unable to access power, The Red Ember fires up the diesel generator, which averages about three litres per hour for fuel consumption. The record for the lunch hour period currently stands at 492 pizzas.
Rolling on
Zinn makes a point of dealing with local suppliers for his foodstuffs. “The quality of the local ingrediants makes for the best finished product,” said Zinn, as he loaded two massive pails of honey into the kitchen, from Starbuck, Manitoba. Zinn makes his own turkey sausage, a key ingredient in his specialty pizza, The Gobbler.
The average Red Ember pizza costs about $12.00.
When not on Broadway, The Red Ember spends Saturdays at the St. Norbert Farmer’s Market, and Sundays at Assiniboine Park.
The best compliments Zinn has ever received are actually complaints, from competing food truck operators. “I’ve heard people say, ‘He’s running that truck like a restaurant,’” said Zinn. That probably explains the line-up.
