Scott & Annette Merchant
The faces behind this operation!
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Our Story
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Combining Scott’s foodservice experience with Annette’s background in banking and finance, made for a perfect foundation to build a business on. After building a much smaller pizza oven for our patio in 2018, followed by many opportunities to cook for family and friends, the conversation started.
“What might a wood-fired pizza business look like?”
For two years, with help from family and friends, we worked out every detail of the business. From recipes and procedures to designing our trailer, we were finally ready!
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Using the names our grandmothers Opal Schirm (Left) and Hazel Snydock (Right), we proudly launched Opal & Hazel’s Wood Fired Pizza in May of 2020.
Today we specialize in private parties and special events, but also include town festivals and street vending to our busy schedule. Based out of Vinton, you will find us with our awesome crew traveling all over Eastern Iowa.
Cooking with wood only, we continue to develop recipes and different pizza combinations that have been often imitated but never duplicated.
Look for us in a neighborhood near you!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who is Opal and Hazel? Opal (Schirm) was Scott's grandmother and Hazel (Snydock) was Annette's grandmother. We are honored to name our business after these special ladies.
Do you really cook the pizza with wood? Yes! We sure do!
How long does it take to bake a pizza? Once the pizza enters the oven it takes approximately 90 seconds to cook!
Where do we find your menu? Our menu changes weekly. We always offer Pepperoni, Sausage, Canadian Bacon, Fresh Mushrooms, Crumbled Bacon, Sauerkraut and Pineapple. Besides these toppings, we always have additional items that rotate weekly. Our Specialty pizza changes weekly as well. We wish we could offer all topping and specialties every night, but unfortunately we do not have enough cooler space for everything. If you are curious about toppings or specialty pizzas we offer, please check out the "Menu" tab here on our website!
Do you do any special events? Yes! Graduations, Wedding Rehearsals, Wedding Receptions, Business Open Houses and Celebrations, Town Celebrations, Birthday Parties, etc. Check out the "Catering" tab for more details!
Where can we find your schedule, with locations and serving times? We post everything on our Facebook page and here under the "Schedule" tab. We also offer an email newsletter, "The Slice" which you can join at the bottom of this page. The newsletter contains lots of fun stuff!
What pizza sizes do you offer? Only one size. 10.5'-11'
What payment methods do you accept? We accept cash and card. Card transactions do require an additional convenience fee. Please, no checks.
Do you have a Gluten-Free option? Unfortunately, we do not. To serve a true "gluten-free" item would mean that at no time is gluten present in preparing or cooking of the food. The flour we use in our dough is considered "high gluten" already and it touches most surfaces within our trailer. So, for us to create a truly gluten-free pizza is relatively impossible. However, we can offer a "gluten friendly" item in the form of a "pizza bake". This is all the ingredients of a pizza without the dough baked in a foil pan.
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