Hello, bricks and mortar: Black Cat Pizzeria graduates from pop-ups to a pad of its own

Albin Jose Toms said a local artist painted the mural adorning his new shop that commemorates his late cat Nos. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC)

Two years ago, an engineer-turned-restaurateur launched the first Black Cat Pizzeria pop-up in St. John's. Now, he's gearing up to open for good at his fur-ever home.

The windows at 13 LeMarchant Road have been papered over so no one can peek inside, but a poster says the pizzeria will open soon. A logo of a black toothy cat hangs over the doorway.

Inside, is an array of chairs and tables and a kitchen waiting to be stocked with fresh produce. Albin Jose Toms, showing off his new pad, says his plan is to open by the end of March.

"This is ... basically a dream come true for me and for a lot of people. So I can't wait for people to just come and see the space and what we have done with the space here," Jose Toms told CBC News.

"Just for the past two years, essentially we were doing pop-ups and ... making some money so that we can put that into starting our own space, and this has finally come true."

He said the pizzeria's name and distinct cat logo was inspired by his cat, a rescue he adopted four years ago. He named the black cat Nosferatu, Nos for short. Initially, Jose Tomas said he doodled Nos on his pizza boxes, which proved popular and inspired his business's name and official logo.

Albin Jose Toms said by the end of March the pizzeria will be open. (Elizabeth Whitten/CBC)

Inside the pizzeria's dining area is a wall mural by local artist Nes that features Jellybean Row houses, Signal Hill, trees and fresh vegetables, with Nos looking over it all against a rainbow.

"It sort of commemorated my little cat as well, on there. Which is great. It's the best mural I could ask for," said Jose Toms.

Black Cat Pizzeria specializes in Detroit-style sourdough pizza, which Jose Toms said has a thicker crust that's still light and airy.

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"That has been sort of our bread and butter for so long. And because we were a pop-up operation, we had to ... focus all of our energy into one particular product," he said.

Having their own space means he has the opportunity to "venture into some other unchartered territories," like trying out new pizza combinations, desserts as well as other food made from sourdough.

He has also bought a dough mixer, as he and his staff were mixing pizza dough by hand before. This machine will be easier on their wrists, he says with a smile.

From engineering to pizza

From Kerala, India, Jose Toms came to Newfoundland and Labrador years ago to study engineering at Memorial University. As a student, he worked at a St. John's pizzeria where he said he fell in love with the food and business.

"It was very foreign to me at the time. But I got really good at it. As I got really good at it, I got really into it as well. So any free time that I would have, I would do my own things on the side, like for recipe developments."

Albin Jose Toms was able to acquire the tables and chairs from the previous occupant, and had the chairs reupholstered with a cat-print fabric. (Danny Arsenault/CBC)

He started out by making pizzas for friends, and that turned into order requests. He then decided to go all in on making pizza, despite having graduated and working as an engineer. But he said there are some transferable skills when it comes to being methodical and creative.

"I was really passionate about pizza and I just wanted to have a career in it. And so a traditional way would be to run the space and start your own pizzeria, but that was just not a viable option," he said.

He started looking for a restaurant to work out of, which led to an agreement with Terre Restaurant, which operates out of the Alt Hotel. More recently, he was baking pizzas out of the Newfoundland Donut Company's location.

Since he started making pizza, he said he's received an incredible amount of support that has made launching his brick and mortar pizzeria possible.

"I am so grateful," he said, "The overwhelming support has been so, so nice. And it just gave me such confidence to move forward."

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