Interview with Jo Malone, Founder of Village Pizza Kitchen

Inspired by a trip to New York more than two decades ago, Jo Malone’s dream of creating authentic New York–style pizza finally came to life in the heart of Sussex. What began as a lockdown takeaway in Hurstpierpoint has since grown into the award-winning Village Pizza Kitchen – a neighbourhood favourite known for its outstanding pizzas, local ingredients, and community spirit.

We caught up with Jo to talk about the journey from idea to reality, her passion for Sussex produce, and how Village Pizza Kitchen has become one of the region’s most celebrated independent restaurants.

We’ve heard you once came close to opening a New York–style pizzeria in Brighton many years ago. Can you tell us more about that, and how it led to Village Pizza Kitchen?

The idea originally came from a trip to New York over 20 years ago, where I discovered New York style pizza. At that time, you couldn’t get that type of pizza in the UK so I went on a quest to discover how to recreate it here. I went back to New York a few times, sampled a lot of pizza and attended a Pizza Expo where I spoke with professionals from the industry who gave me guidance. I studied an NVQ in Business Start Up, whilst working my day job in marketing, and developed a business plan for my New York pizza concept. Finally, after many months of research and development, I’d perfected my dough recipe and found a premises in the North Laines in Brighton. I was so close to doing it, but it was just the wrong time in my life and so I decided not to proceed.

There were a few people who knew about my dream to open a New York style pizzeria and who over the years kept saying to me that I should do it. Then when covid struck, I was made redundant and I decided to revisit the idea. By this time, New York style pizza was becoming established in the UK and what was more important to me was provenance – supporting local producers and showcasing amazing British produce!

I subsequently spent 6 months visiting suppliers and producers in Sussex and further afield and testing different types of flours and recipes at home.

Eventually I developed a dough recipe that I was happy with and found a premises on the high street of my home village of Hurstpierpoint, in West Sussex.

We launched during lockdown in December 2020 as a pizza takeaway. Whilst this was an exceptionally challenging time to open a business, once we managed to get open – we really benefited as most restaurants and shops were closed, so people were excited to have something new to try! Our local community were incredibly supportive and as we were able to deliver, we were able to serve many of the other local villages in the area – expanding our reach and brand awareness. After nearly 4 years as a takeaway, we relocated to a larger site just over the road and opened as a full-service restaurant in December last year.

What made you choose Hurstpierpoint as the home for Village Pizza Kitchen, and what’s your connection to the area?

I originally moved to Brighton to study at Brighton University, where I completed a Business Degree. I loved the city so much that I stayed for 16 years before moving 15 minutes up the road to the lovely village of Hurstpierpoint, which has been my home ever since.

Apart from the convenience of living in Hurstpierpoint, to me it was an obvious place to open a pizza takeaway. It is an affluent area with a multigenerational demographic and benefits from a surrounding population of around 50,000 people within a 5 mile radius. It also had the benefit of having very little competition, as the only other pizza companies operating in the area were Dominoes and Papa Johns!

Village Pizza Kitchen proudly showcases amazing British produce and supports local Sussex suppliers — can you tell us more about why that’s so important to you?

Aside from the fact that we are incredibly lucky to have so many amazing producers in Sussex, when I decided to launch Village Pizza Kitchen, we were in the early days of the pandemic and what was clear to me at that time was the importance of supporting other local businesses. Also, there is of course the environmental impact of sourcing locally in terms of food miles and another key benefit is the freshness of the ingredients we use, which plays a big part in the quality of our pizzas and pasta dishes.

Which local ingredients or producers do you particularly love working with, and how do they influence your menu?

I’ve spent a lot of time in France and yet some of the best cheeses I have ever eaten are made locally in Sussex! Our Cheesy on the Eyes pizza, which features four different Sussex cheeses, is one of my all time favourites! We source most of our meat from nearby Calcot Farm, whilst our seasonal veg is grown and supplied by the lovely Sophie from Pitfield Farm in Hurstpierpoint. We offer local beers which are brewed just along the high street from us at the brilliant Hop Tub, plus a selection of award-winning craft beers from Matt & Ben at Silver Rocket Brewing in Hassocks, as well as Sussex-based spirits and ciders. Our ice cream is from Carolines Dairy in Chichester and we even have the chillies we use in our house chilli oil especially grown for us in nearby Ashurst! We really are spoilt for choice with so many incredible artisan producers right on our doorstep!

Which dishes on your menu are your personal favourites, and what makes them special to you?

I have a couple of favourite pizzas – the aforementioned Cheesy on the Eyes and the Rox Star, which was originally developed at home with my daughter, Roxy, who was just 7 at the time. One of the four cheeses on the Cheesy on the Eyes is Blue Clouds, made by Balcombe Dairy. Similar to a gorgonzola, it is my favourite local ingredient and I like to add it as an extra topping to the Rox Star as it pairs beautifully with our homemade meatballs, green peppers and black Kalama olives!

Although I love all of the pastas on the menu, my all time favourite dish since I was little is lasagna and I have to say that our lasagna is definitely up there as one of the best I’ve ever eaten!

For pudding, I love our Blackforest Brownie – a take on a Blackforest Gateau, but with our homemade gluten free brownie, Fabbri Amarena cherries, cherry syrup and fresh whipped cream. Another favourite of mine (and the rest of the VPK team!) is our famous Ponuts, which are a bit like churros but made with our pizza dough, fried and coated in cinnamon and sugar, served with a choice of Nutella or Biscoff – or both!

Village Pizza Kitchen has won numerous awards since opening — can you tell us more about those achievements, and which one means the most to you?

We are incredibly honoured to have been recognised with a number of awards over the past few years. We were super proud to be voted 5th Best Restaurant in Sussex this year in the BRAVOS so soon after opening as a restaurant and at a more national level, to have been crowned as the UK’s Best Independent Pizza Takeaway by the industry body, the Pizza, Pasta & Italian Association (PAPA) in both 2023 and 2024.

This month, one of our pizza chefs, Alex Punter, will be competing for the title of Pizza Chef of the Year as he has made it through to the finals of the PAPAs in two categories.

The winner will be announced later that evening at the prestigious annual industry awards ceremony in London. We have recently found out that we are also a finalist for Best Independent Restaurant – so we’re keeping everything crossed for the big night!

Tell us about your Food Service and Wholesale operations — how did they come about, and how do they fit into your wider vision for the business?

Last year we became the official pizza partner to the American Express Stadium in Brighton, launching our first dedicated kiosk serving our Detroit style pizza by the slice and supplying par baked pizzas for the hospitality lounges on a wholesale basis.

This has opened doors for us with other businesses including other football stadiums and London restaurants, which we now supply with products such as Detroit pizza bases and marinara sauce from a dedicated production kitchen in Brighton. We are currently working on developing some new products for wholesale and food service, including Roman-style pan pizza bases and have just launched our delicious new focaccia breads!

Our focus next year will be on further developing this part of the business as we feel that there is a real opportunity to work with high volume sites that are looking to deskill their kitchen operations, whilst ensuring a high quality and consistent experience for their customers.

Which three places to eat in Sussex do you love the most, and what makes them stand out?

I would say that my top three places to eat out in Sussex are Red Snapper in Hove, where I’ve been going for well over 20 years for delicious Thai food, The Ginger Fox in Henfield where you’re guaranteed great service and tasty food and the Hop Tub in Hurstpierpoint for the best Wagu burgers and own-brewed beers!