Steve Francis bought a pizza oven during the Covid lockdown like thousands of others. Unlike most, he turned his impulse purchase into Backyard Dough Co, a popular pop-up pizzeria that operates from his back garden in Barry.
By day a TV journalist, the 42-year-old lives on Barry's Waterfront Estate with his partner and spends free weekends making pizzas for customers who follow a side entrance down an unassuming Barry estate to find a sell-out neighbourhood pizzeria.
From Lockdown Experiment to Backyard Business
Backyard Dough Co was born from lockdown spare time, an impulse pizza oven purchase, and then a pause of around four years when Steve's first bakes flopped. "I'd always been a pizza lover, and then I think I was probably like one of many hundreds and thousands of people who bought a pizza oven during lockdown as a skill to try," he explained.
"I had a go, and I was absolutely rubbish, and I thought, 'Oh, sod this,' so I put it in a box for a few years, because every time I made [a pizza], they were terrible."
Rather than give up, he decided in mid-2025 to relearn the dough-making process properly. "I started again, and it kept getting better each time, and lots of practice, I was making dough pretty much every week when I had some time to test it," he said.
"Over time I made more and built up the volume, because it's one thing making a good pizza - making several good ones at once and keeping it consistent [is the challenge]." He invited neighbours to try his pizzas for feedback, and they encouraged him: "They said, 'I would pay for this pizza'."
From Garden Tastings to Sell-Out Sessions
A bad, overpriced pizza at a Welsh restaurant was the final push. "They're charging a lot of money for this and that spurred me on to go for it." He registered for a hygiene rating, bought a gazebo and the kit needed to make and sell around 60 pizzas per session.
He was soon invited to pop up at his local pub, Craft Republic, after his garden sessions. "That was a big leap then, because you're serving to the public and to strangers, and we've done over a hundred pizzas in one go then."
"Going from one - making one pizza for you and your friends who are around, to actually making it to a hundred, is a big step. It's been really challenging, and lots of fun along the way."
Authentic Neapolitan, 24 Hours in the Making
Each batch follows a 24-hour fermenting process at room temperature to keep it as authentically Neapolitan as possible. "You've only got 90 seconds really to actually cook it, and if you go 10 seconds over, it's too far. It burns and it's game over."
His expertise comes from YouTube videos. He uses a special blend of flour, hand-squeezes tomato sauce, and sources Fior di Latte mozzarella from Italian wholesalers who deliver it fresh.
Family, Neighbours and Pre-Orders
Steve's daughter helps at the external pop-ups at the pub, with her boyfriend on the oven. "It's a lovely way to bond as well." At home, the support of neighbours keeps the venture running.
"The key to how the site works, really, is that when we do do it, it's preorder. It's only on random weekends when I have a free weekend." He spaces out customers to avoid clogging the street. "It wouldn't work without the support of the neighbours."
Customers come from as far as Cardiff, and Steve wants to keep the pizzas affordable because, he says, pizza is simple street food. "You wouldn't know, it just looks like any other house, really, when you walk past, so to come down and see us there, and it's made, you know, right in front of you, it's lovely."
