Get to know Sarah Brading & Rich Baker from Flat Earth Pizza

We’re thrilled to have Sarah and Rich as part of our community. Sadly since Sarah wrote this Blog for us the restaurant suffered a burglary and smashed windows for the third time in a year. We are aware that this is too common in the area and are working with members to connect them with relevant council officers and the police. We hope that by pulling together we can be vigilant as a community and prevent these violent occurrences from being repeated. Please pop in for a pizza if you can as a violation like this is scary, demoralising and costly.

If you’re a Tower Hamlets-based small business or social enterprise provided you join by midday tomorrow (Friday 10th March) we can include you on the spring print run of our Rob Ryan guide. Tell a friend!

For 2023 we’re having a social get-together every month and the next one in Tower Hamlets will be hosted at Flat Earth in April with food collaborations between fellow members Oitij-jo Collective and the Felix Project! All new members from anywhere in London can join our socials and details will be emailed to everyone who signs up about all our initiatives and events. Our green energy partners and legal experts will be on hand for in-person 15-minute 121s too. What are you waiting for join here today!

What is the story of Flat Earth pizza, how did it all begin?

Flat Earth Pizzas was set up in 2019 by myself (Sarah) and my partner, Rich. Having both had careers in hospitality, we felt the itch to create something of our own. We know that the broken food system has the single biggest impact on the planet and felt that the most pressing issues are:

1) High meat consumption

2) Poor sourcing

3) Food waste

We created Flat Earth to shine a light on solving these issues. We created a meat-free pizza concept that used locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and we live by a root-to-shoot philosophy whereby we use up as much of the vegetable as possible from the stems to the skins. We also collect any unavoidable food waste and it gets turned into fertiliser for local farms. We spent two years doing kitchen residencies in pubs and bars in east London. This includes The Hive – our very first location – that, by a twist of fate, we then took over the lease of in 2022, opening the very first Flat Earth Pizzas restaurant in April.

Why did you become a member of the Guild?

For the community aspect. Every small business has its struggles so it’s nice to be connected with other businesses that feel the same pain! It’s so easy to get tunnel vision when running your own business so it’s important to come up for air and chatting to like-minded people helps you feel more supported.

What is the most important issue affecting your business right now?

Increasing costs across all areas such as energy and ingredients. Due to the cost of living crisis, we’ve noticed our customers are being a bit more cautious with spending money too. It’s a constant uphill battle. We try and absorb as much of the additional costs as possible but it’s difficult.

How would you like to work together with other members of the Guild?

I’d like to host events at Flat Earth and work with other businesses to create interesting ticketed evenings. Also, we enjoy collaborating with other brands and inviting people to create a pizza using either ingredients that they produce or those that they champion. We love having these specials on our menu.

What do you want people to know about Flat Earth right now?

We’d love people to know about our brand-new menu! This week we are highlighting women winemakers and donating proceeds of such wines to The Fawcett Society.

Broccoli & Blue – 13.5

Broccoli florets, Somerset mozzarella and Cheddar, Shropshire blue, pine nuts, salsa verde, oat béchamel.

Sloppy Joe – (vegan)

Tempeh bolognese, red and white onions, mozza, BBQ drizzle, Parmesan crumb

Orange Squash – (vegan)

Chilli roasted squash and fennel seeded carrots, basil, Somerset mozzarella and Wyke Farm Cheddar, garlic & orange drizzle, oat béchamel.

Plus a very popular:

Sharing Marmite & Cheddar flatbread topped with pizza slaw.

Seasonal fruit crumble to finish.