Independent pizza restaurant launches second branch in Colchester.

East Anglian Daily Times: Dough & Co has opened a second branch in Colchester Picture: Chris SharmanDough & Co has opened a second branch in Colchester Picture: Chris Sharman (Image: Archant)

In the summer we reported the opening of new independent pizza restaurant Dough & Co in Sudbury, with owner Chris Sharman saying: “I want it to be one of 50”.

Well, it appears the young chef and entrepreneur is well and truly setting out his stall, having just opened his second restaurant in Colchester at 48 St John Street, with plans for six or seven new eateries to open in south Suffolk and north Essex in 2019.

“It’s a lot larger,” Chris says of the new premises, which were formerly Sorano’s and before that The Lemon Tree bistro.

“We’ve got 65 covers in here so there’s so much more space to play with. And the setting is great. We’ve got the Roman wall at the bottom, like a cave, and we’ve redone the lights and sanded down the wood to how it originally was. We’ve brought it all back to as original as we could – there’s loads of character so here we can have dim lighting and candles – all of that.”

This new restaurant follows hot on the heels of Sudbury, which only opened in July, with Chris currently looking at locations in Bury St Edmunds, Halstead, Chelmsford and Newmarket, ideally hoping to launch a third Dough & Co by March next year.

But, no matter how large his empire expands, Chris is adamant he wants to stay true to his vision for the brand, which he created after working in fine dining for 14 years. “Every pizza is prepared by a chef who has a real passion for what they’re putting on the plate,” he says adding that the dough for the wood-fired pizzas is his own recipe, made with nothing but Italian flour, fresh yeast, olive oil and water, and that all the toppings have been sourced from the finest suppliers. “We use San Marzano tomatoes blitzed up for the sauce. We don’t have to do anything else to them. Real food is about bringing the best out of amazing ingredients.”

The new menu (available in Sudbury too) has launched at Colchester with customers already picking their favourites says Chris: “The High Protein pizza is the most popular but so are the others we’ve added like The White One and the calzone. I like Must Be Nuts which has got gorgonzola, fior di latte mozzarella, Italian ham and walnuts, and The Spanish One, with spiced king prawns, chorizo, spring onions and peppers.

“We’ve expanded our starters as well, so we’ve got a caprese salad, bruschetta and our own dough triangles. We’re looking into doing more desserts in the future too like tiramisu.”

And it seems like customers certainly have an appetite for what Chris has to offer.

“The local community have been really supportive of Sudbury and the new restaurant in Colchester. We’ve had lots of people coming to us with really really nice feedback and we’ve done a few bits for local charities as well. It’s great – I couldn’t have asked for much more.”