A new pizza pop-up in the East end is the terrific result of a popular chef that was barred from serving at his restaurant throughout the pandemic.
Chef Sean MacDonald launched Biga Pies––a pizza-forward pop-up operating out of ēst Restaurant where he is the chef and owner––after falling in love with all things pizza during lockdown. His restaurant was shut down for over eight months, which had him watching a bunch of videos and learning more about the art of pizza dough. Eventually, Biga Pies was born when his restaurant was able to reopen again.
MacDonald has had a passion for cooking in fine dining for many years. He was selected as one of the 16 Rising Talents for North America by The Art of Plating. In 2018 he was selected as the #221 chef in the world by The Best Chef Awards. In June 2016, he also won the Canadian title for the San Pellegrino Young Chef Competition and represented Canada in the World Championships in Milan, Italy.
When he finally decided to learn more about pizza, he especially enjoyed the Neapolitan style. He worked on his own personal pizza dough recipe and went through lots of trial and error before he was ready to share with others what he came up with.
MacDonald uses classic 00 flour, ferments the dough for over 48 hours and then cooks it in a forno for 60 seconds. The crust is a mix of crunchy, chewy, sour and airy––it's the highlight of the pizza according to the chef. For now, he only serves two flavours, a classic margherita and a prosciutto pizza with arugula, parm and chili oil. He wanted to start off with a classic and simple offering to show off the quality of the ingredients.
"I wanted to show my passion and love for pizza in every pie," the chef says. Biga Pies dough is naturally-leavened with a sourdough starter created over COVID from old dried sourdough crumbs, sour cream culture, beer and Canadian red fife flour.
Currently, Biga Pies is offering pick ups at 729 Queen Street East and is open Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. until sold out.
