Offering delicious, traditional pizzas to local villages with his mobile wood-fired pizza trailer, a former Suffolk prison officer is inspiring those with invisible illnesses to see life in a different way.
Owner of Taste of Naples Pizzeria, Darren Brooks, 36, of Sible Hedingham, decided to pursue his pizza dream after he fell in love with Naples on a weekend trip to Italy.
Mr. Brooks decided to pursue his pizza dream after he fell in love with Naples on a weekend trip to Italy. (Image: Darren Brooks)
“You can’t beat the pizzas out there,” he said.
“I completely fell in love with the culture, the food and decided to buy a portable pizza oven for myself and my children when I returned.”
Trying to keep the experience as authentic as possible, Mr. Brooks offers a traditional menu and implores people to try his favorite, the Marinara – a Neopolitan pizza without any cheese.
“The way that pizza steams and smells when you pull it out of the oven – I would 100% ask people to give it a chance,” he said.
Two of his children, 13-year-old Joshua and 11-year-old Ava, also like to help out when they can, taking orders and talking to customers, and Mr Brooks’ second youngest, six-year-old Leo, has already started helping by delivering pizzas to tables.
However, the road to launching his dream mobile pizza pop-ups has not been a smooth one.
In the summer of 2016, Mr. Brooks had a flare-up of abdominal pain and was taken into the hospital for a long period.
After trying many different treatments, he eventually had to have his large bowel removed and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
The day after his surgery, he was rushed to intensive care and his parents were told he was “touch and go”.
“It was really daunting,” Mr. Brooks said.
“Once I was well enough, I returned to work at Warren Hill prison but found it affected my mental health.”
Deciding to leave after 10 years in the prison service was an incredibly difficult decision, but one that he definitely does not regret.
“A lot of people think that having an ileostomy stops you from doing anything,” he said.
“But for me, that bag gave me my life back because it let me leave the house.
“With my business, I’m trying to show people with invisible illnesses to see life in a different way.
“We can still achieve things and for me, that was taking a risk and launching the Taste of Naples Pizzeria.”