‘Twasn’t such a bad one after all!
With all the ups and downs and upside downs, the first season in the gardens was actually quite great! – Albeit the big elephant in the room, COVID!!!!!!
That fucking thing, nothing like crouching dragon, hidden tiger, no the full monty, we went through the whole experience and thank god came through on the other side. Where there’s a will there’s a way and it was the whole team that made this possible.
So this is going to be more of a staff appreciation story rather than anything else.
So lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start!
Is there life on Mars?
First honorable mention goes to my main partner in crime, Max! Without this fuzzy dude making one hundred decisions a day, there would be nothing for me to counter decide during team Gone.
I don’t tell you nearly enough how lucky I am to have you as my partner. With you in my corner there is no event, opportunity or situation we cannot handle. It’s like yin and yang, you know what I mean? 😉
The Sheriff
Sheriff is as important to this season as covid! Without him we would have never started working on the garden and without covid we would have never started producing these sexy ass pizzas! So thanks Zack!
Also for knowing how to swing a punch and being right behind me when my ass was about to be handed to me – just because we didn’t have change for cigarettes!!!!
Nannu Joe & Olive!
Well as important as Zack, equally important was that nannu Joe wanted to give me and Max a chance… Behind every great man is an even greater woman and thank you from the bottom of our heart to Nanna Olive for being super supportive and lending us her handyman extraordinaire and all the crazy hard work! If being active is the secret to a long and healthy life, Nannu Joe has sure cracked the code, dancing the funky chicken on ladders like he was 35 (my age) and not 70! 🙂
His favourite line? “Qomnaaaaaaa jewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!”
Giannnnniiiiiiiiiiiiii
When he’s not fighting crime, justifying every reckless driver one skateboard at a time he was with us, architecting the menu with us, prototyping the pizzas and producing the first ever batch the world has ever seen! Thanks to Gianni, Juan had a perfect roadmap of the way we wanted our kitchen to run and the vibe we wanted everyone to dance to, hot hot hot! Pit pit pit! Tajjeb il birra!
Juan the pizza boss!
The transition from Gianni to Juan in the kitchen was as smooth as the marble we open our pizza dough on. A natural leader, cool calm and collected. Thanks to this dude, the quality and the level of our pizza has remained at its top level all season, putting in lots of hours, never complaining and always met with that cheeky smile 😉
Alex, pizzaiolo!!!
Pizzaiolo and all round nice guy, always ready to get stuck in the deep end! Pizza wasn’t always the plan, but when the opportunity arose he took it upon himself to really learn the trade! Now we can proudly say that when he’s in the kitchen we got a solid team cranking out our hot circles of love and cheese!
Seby , Hilfred & Cat man!
Thanks Hil for always being there when it most counted, even filling in a shift with a shirt and dress shoes! 🙂 We really appreciate you standing behind us and ready to rock with us, no matter how short notice! With tons of real life experience in the catering industry, its always awesome to hear his advice and mentorship. 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Seby arriving a little late on the scene but this is a power lifter that knows how to lift above his weight! We are so happy that you walked in asking for a shift, super to have you on the team creating beautiful pizzas every time!!!
Cat man…
What can I say about cat man, well your mind is a blended puddle of joy and fun. It’s awesome to have you around to bounce off ideas and help solve problems creatively in the kitchen. I love our conversations together with Juan in the kitchen. Oh and I love your knife… (That’s why you can stay)
Now on to the Bar staff!
(And none of this is in any particular order, to prove it I will start with Bumble🤣😂🤣😂)
Although he burns the candle at both ends, one of the most beautiful things in life is having home grown peeps around you. The fact that this little duderino actually knows what he’s doing, is always ready to pull a shift where needed, loves the place and loves us is just an added bonus! This is our way of showing a little love 😁
DJ JonoooooooOooOOOooooooOOOo
Our all rounder! From Valletta Salumeria days, till this very week, ain’t no place we can’t have him where he ain’t weak! Literally this guy even took a punch for me, and believe me, it wasn’t a pretty sight! To say he is a Salumeria fighter is an understatement to say he’s part of the team is ridiculous, cause its family!
The Pass and kitchen specialists
Nobody messes with these two!
Cain on the pass is like our Rain man of pizza garnishes, finishing and toppings. So yes, if you ordered a Pizza burrata and it arrives as a Pizza pistacchio burrata, then it was him! Or it wasn’t him at all, it would happen when his all seeing eyes are not at work cause he’s the pass boss! He’s got an eye on the prize and his aim is to deliver your pizzas, sliced and looking pretty all night long!
Noah, tajjeb il -____? 🤣🤣😂😂
His help in the kitchen is vital to ensure the continual supply of pizzas being pumped out! From this to that and then some more, the kitchen is hot hot hot but keeps you wanting more! One of the back of house unsung heros, so from here we’d like to sing a song especially for you!
(sings a song….)
The floor girls!
Marion!
Eh bien, que puis-je dire, dieu merci, vous m’avez tellement appris de votre belle langue que je connais maintenant. Dire que je mange des fenêtres est faux … Apart from that, lovely to work with and always ready to smile!
It was super with you around especially when we had the french tourists as you can imagine I don’t speak much French!
Michela
Put her in the bar, on the pass or on the floor no probs for her at all! Also she’s got the coffee man wrapped around her little finger… So we never have to worry about being out of coffee as the duderino always comes running! 🤣🤣🤣
Maya
Always with a smile of her face and ready to work hard in the kitchen too, it’s always a pleasure to have some females in the male dominated room!
It keeps the vulgar language (slightly) at bay 😁😁
Lisa
Thank you come again! Riturno presto! The party doesn’t stop till ten in the morning with this one! But that’s part of the fun and reason why she felt the urge to leave Italy and come discover Malta, all its beauty, treasures and beaches! When she’s not working she’s off to find one of our beautiful small beaches to soak up the last remaining rays of sun! When she’s at work she is totally focused on her customers and eager to serve them to the best of her ability!
Maya
What is there to say about Maya? This was her first real job, and considering everything (the broken glasses, spilling drinks on people, broken plates) we are super glad to have her. A very thoughtful person who goes above and beyond the hours on the clock for us! Even taking it upon herself to organize the staff cake, (with our faces printed on it!) Sooooooooooooooo yes, we are glad to have you on the team! 😊
The British contingent!
Rhianne, Dave and Stan the man!
These three always ready to help with a shift or two whenever the situation calls. These three come with a strong heritage of bar and pub culture and work ethos, so its great to hear how stuff is done in England for example but on top of all that. The main reason is, that they are just super people to have around! Mismatching socks included!
A small welcome to the team goes out to Julia and Kylee!!!! After reading all of this, you now have a better idea of the group of misfits you are signing your self up with…. Sooooooooo you have been forewarned. A team that plays together stays together.
A big heart goes out to our whole family for the shit load of support this whole summer long, from our lovely mother cleaning all the aprons, kithen rags etc… To our father who we always look towards for advice down to our sister and her boyfriend, to our loved ones and partners who nurse us when we are sick and give us stick when we feel sorry for ourselves. 1
Small honorable mention to our suppliers who really went above and beyond ensuring that we are never left with out the products we need in order to produce what we are proud of producing. We use your products because we recognize the quality of produce you are able to give us, together with the service , friendly smile and always answering the phone even when its a Sunday and we are out of Burrata or Aperol! 😉 Thank you guys, you know who you are…
This winter season is going to be a good one. We are going to be fine tuning our craft, working on next season to be even more efficient.
We’ve launched the Roasted Sunday’s (a lunch thing) the first one was a huge success, with everyone loving the Sunday roast…
Lastly I will finish by saying thank you to the thousands of people who walked through our gates this summer. It was truly amazing serving you all. Sure we recognize our teething problems. We’ve been overwhelmed a number of times by the shear volume of people that keep coming back for our pizza, a drink, some chilled vibes in the garden or a chat or two with us (whenever possible).
Gone, out.
12/10/2020.
Salumeria Gardens 