You know when you meet a new neighbor or your nephew moves into their first home, and you’re tasked with searching for the perfect housewarming gift? A candle, a nice tea towel, or a toaster are classics, but one present changed the trajectory of Derek Walker’s life when he moved into a new California home in the 2010s: a magazine that featured dreamy backyard BBQs.
“I was thumbing through it and they had a pizza oven idea for a backyard setup,” Derek shared. “So I built a pizza oven in my backyard, and we used to have parties at my house every single weekend for a whole year.”
Friends and neighbors would bring their favorite ingredients – from toppings to homemade sauces – to create different pizza concoctions each weekend. At the time, pizza became a hobby.
“After a while, everybody was so blown away by what we were creating, it seemed like we wanted to start something where we could actually sell them,” Derek added. He connected with a friend who built a custom pizza trailer to recreate the backyard experience at other people’s homes. “It ended up being a huge hit, we were doing tons of birthdays and weddings. After the first year, we were so booked, it was incredible.”
Derek had friends and family who lived in Tennessee, and he fell in love with the Nashville area while visiting. He loved the slower pace of life, the respectful residents, and the southern hospitality. He worked to get a food truck built and made the cross-country move to the area in 2020.
“It’s been a whirlwind tour ever since,” Derek shares. “We could not ask for a better customer base, there’s a whole community of people we see every week. It’s been an incredible experience.”
The Flour and Forge truck is impressive in and of itself, built from a shipping container and measuring 26 feet in length. The wood-fired pizzas served vary greatly in taste and toppings to appease every palette. Not to be missed is the Velvet Revolver, named after the prolific rock band, that takes the cake (or, pie) for best seller.
The delicacy begins with Flour and Forge’s marinara sauce topped with mozzarella, ricotta, pepperoni, and arugula, and finished with a hot honey drizzle.
“It’s one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life,” Derek laughs. “And I eat a lot of pizzas.”
Some of the menu staples are tried-and-true iterations from the days of backyard pizza parties, like the peanut sauce found on the Thai Chicken pizza. The spicy base is then topped with cheese, chicken, mushrooms, and green onions.
Without a brick-and-mortar location, you’ll have to jump at the opportunity to get a Flour and Forge pizza when the truck makes its way to Bellevue about once a week. Or, it can be booked for large events like weddings, birthday parties, corporate lunches, and more. There’s a form on the website for event inquiries, and the weekly truck locations are shared on their Instagram page, @flourandforge.
“It’s really important for us to create a dynamic feel to everything we bring to the table,” Derek adds. “We try to take it to the next level.”
Flour and Forge is a wood-fired pizza brand, operating out of a 26-foot food truck built out of a shipping container. Whether you’re a fan of the classic pepperoni, the four cheese with a pesto twist, or a unique option like the Thai Chicken made with a peanut sauce or ultra-hot Forbidden Pizza made with ghost pepper, there’s guaranteed to be a pie on the menu you’ll fall in love with. Specializing in catered events for up to 1,000 hungry folks, owner Derek Walker and his team serve up delicious pies to the Bellevue community once a week. Check their Instagram weekly for the schedule.
