The Meanwood Tavern Leeds: Meet the man behind Well Oiled's Detroit pizzas that revellers can't get enough of

Detroit-style pizza, made with fluffy focaccia dough and baked in a rectangular pan, is all the rage in America and now James Newman has brought the trend to Leeds. James is the founder of Well Oiled which has just found its first home in the new Meanwood Tavern, formerly East of Arcadia.

Since opening last month, demand for Well Oilled’s Detroit pizzas has been so high that the team can barely make enough dough to feed hungry revellers.

James, 44, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We all feel like we’ve been hit by a juggernaut. We’ve been bowled over by the level of support and interest, both in the pub but also in the food.”

James has a background in PR and marketing, previously the marketing director for Red’s True Barbeque and Italian restaurant chain Gusto. At the end of 2019, he decided to set up his own marketing consultancy, Brain Fuud, which specialises in the hospitality industry. And then the pandemic hit.

“Like other people in 2020, I had a lot of time on my hands,” James said. “I got lost down the rabbit hole of Instagram and I found this bubbling up trend in America called Detroit-style pizza.

“I’d always wanted to see whether Brain Fuud could come up with our own proposition that we could own and spin out. So I started on my journey of developing the pizzas. There was a period when I made and ate Detroit pizza every single day for five weeks. I put on a stone and my kids fell out of love with pizza!”

Detroit pizza is traditionally topped with more ingredients than a classic Neapolitan-style pizza, including plenty of cheese which melts down the side and forms a crispy, caramelised cheese crust.

James said: “It’s thick, light, airy and fluffy and it’s more refined in terms of quantity of ingredients. If you ordered a pepperoni pizza you might, at most, get 10 pieces of pepperoni and a small handful of Fior Di Latte cheese. With Detroit pizza, the best way I can describe it is pizza on crack - it goes to town with a lot of toppings.”

After James had perfected his recipe, he took the plunge and started doing pop-ups around Leeds, including at Do’Hut and The Leeds Deli. They were sell-outs.

James was later introduced to Ed Mason, managing director of Whitelock’s, which had taken over the former East of Arcadia and wanted to outsource the food to an independent brand. The Meanwood Tavern opened at the beginning of last month after a £150,000 renovation.

James said: “The pub is now absolutely packed and that’s because of the great pub, the good beer, but also the good food. It’s really empowering to me when you look out across the pass and see people enjoying your food.

“At a core level, I like food because it has an emotional connection with people. When you eat great food, you just feel good. It’s so fun, it’s so unifying and it can bring people together.”