Flour Girl & Flame LLC, which launched in August as a mobile food trailer serving wood-fired pizza, has proposed plans to expand into its own storefront in West Allis.
The Milwaukee-based business will occupy the ground floor and basement of 8121-23 W. National Ave. for a retail store and base kitchen for its mobile operation, said chef and owner Dana Spandet.
Spandet is the executive chef at West Allis-based caterer Tall Guy and a Grill. She came up with the idea for her traveling pizza oven as the company pivoted from catering to carry-out amid the pandemic. Since summer, the Flour Girl & Flame trailer has set up shop at Zocalo Food Park and across the area as well as at private events, selling pizza and other eats with locally sourced ingredients.
Phase one of the storefront buildout is expected to be complete by April 1, said Spandet. It will include the base kitchen and retail space on the ground floor. The basement will be used for storage
“We’ll be selling our wood-fired par-baked take-and-bake pies out of the storefront and some other rustic wood-fired provisions such as challah bread, sourdough, bialys and house-made hot honey,” said Spandet.Â
The business will have an online ordering system allowing customers to create custom orders and select pick-up times, according to plans submitted to the City of West Allis Plan Commission.
In addition, Spandet keeps honeybees in a small apiary that she plans to move to the roof of the West Allis location. The bees will produce honey for Flour Girl’s signature honey crust drizzle and help pollinate the garden planned in the adjacent park space, she said.Â
Phase two will eventually add a copper domed wood-fired oven to the space so customers can order pizza to-go.Â
Proposed retail hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 4 to 8 p.m., but the space may be used for food prep work outside of the those hours, according to Plan Commission documents. A minimum of two employees will work at the store during retail hours, while four to six employees work the trailer during pop-ups and events.
The business plans to replace and add decorative lighting to the front lobby, as well as add stainless steel food prep tables, coolers, freezers, and light duty kitchen equipment.
The city’s Plan Commission is expected to recommend approval of Flour Girl & Flame’s proposed plans during a Jan. 27 meeting. A public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2.
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