A Girl and Her Dragon takes flight! – May 7th

It’s official, Kylie’s Dragon has taken flight,  (still waiting for the Dragon to be named).  It started a little rocky, as debut’s often do, but, they got it straightened out fast and the launch of A Girl and her Dragon Wood Fired Pizza Catering was a fiery success.  Over a hundred attendees and students at the Nueva School’s Quest night were able to take a break from seeing projects and grab a quick bite of wood fired pizza.

I was particularly impressed with how organized the food prep and serving area’s were.  A great location between the main thoroughfare in the school’s courtyard was the perfect place for attendees to take a quick break and enjoy some free pizza.  YES, I said free, many diners asked how much, but founder / CEO Kylie was adamant that her debut would offer free pizza to all her classmates and Quest guests.  This was after all about presenting her Quest, starting a Wood Fired Pizza business.

Despite the free pizza, Kylie and her supporting cast (Paul, Al and Piper who sets the standard for a generation’s work ethic) worked long into the night to make sure everyone was fed, attendees first, then weary students worn out from their own Quest presentations.  Kylie even made sure she kept a gluten free pizza in reserve for one hungry customer.

Don’t think the Dragon can’t afford to be fed, from what I heard, A Girl and her Dragon will be busy all summer, pre-booked for several months out.

Forno Bravo was honored to be invited to attend Quest night and had an amazing time.  It was incredible seeing all the projects from these extraordinary teenagers.  Drawing upon support from their school, mentors and family, these students composed poetry, music and art; created learning aids to assist dyslexics, programmed a randomly generated world that reconstructs itself while you play the game and so many other amazing projects I could blog for a decade and not scratch the surface.  I even spoke with a young man who designed a game credit app that allows users to earn credits based on how much energy their family saves (yes, you read that correctly).

Thanks to the Holland Family for including Forno Bravo in this incredible experience.

As promised, Kylie has agreed to share her journey into business and the wood fired community.  Her first post is ready to go, but we wanted to tee it up.

Here is a quick excerpt from the Chef herself:

“And so it begins….My quest began sometime in June 2014, sitting with a glass of lemonade and more family members than you could shake a pizza peel at.

Before I finish that story, some background information is in order. My name is Kylie, Kylie Holland if you want to get fancy, Kylie Kies Holland if you’re my mother and I’ve misplaced something rather important, like a young cousin (it happens to everyone, right?) But I digress.

I am 15, a sophomore in a Bay Area school that’s a hop, skip, and a train ride away from San Francisco. Last June, my father’s family decided to convene in Nantucket for a brief reunion. Upon discovering a well-written bike/hike map, my mother rented us all bicycles and announced a trip to a local brewery! Huzzah, some of us were underage, but, no matter, we were going to drink lemonade.

First, we promptly got lost. That, however, is not important. What is important is that we persevered because, had we not, this would be a pretty non-existent blog. We found our way thanks to an exceedingly kind local (and in spite of some less than amiable truckers). Once at our destination, my sisters (Devon, 14, Piper, 12) and I discovered, to our utter joy, that the Brewery had a contract with a food truck.

Actually, what the proprietors had, was way better ⎯ A pizza stand, but not just any pizza stand. Beneath that canvas, shield stood Steve, owner, and founder of Roamin’ Pizzeria. In case the name didn’t tip you off, he owns the only mobile pizza oven on Nantucket…..”

Stay tuned as Kylie shares her journey, success and setbacks with frank commentary and colorful anecdotes.  A Girl and her Dragon is set for an incredible future, both in business and philanthropy.  Forno Bravo will be launching a re-vamped website in July to give Kylie and other contributors a front stage in our Wood Fired Community.

Not until everyone gets pizza