You could say Sharlene Neville helped set the foundation for the pizzeria she and her daughter would one day open.
Despite not yet having opened, the phone at Little B’s Pizzeria, located in the basement of Salmon Arm’s iconic Old Courthouse building, started ringing steadily before 1 p.m. on Friday, March 12. Little B’s Brittany Neville was busy at work in one of the areas in the back, kneading her individually made pizza doughs in separate pans for the restaurant’s soft opening later that afternoon.
“She has different ways of rising and tweaking the dough, not overplaying with it,” said Sharlene of her daughter, who is the pizzaiola of the family. “It reminds me of my mother’s bread recipe which is phenomenal. She didn’t really know her grandma, but… she actually treats her dough like my mother did when I used to watch her doing it.”
Brittany explained recipes for her home-made pizzas, made with cheese from Salmon Arm’s Tanto Latte and other premium ingredients, were perfected after managing Mel’s Mainstreet Pizza for 14 years, and said she knew at age 18 that she wanted to one day open a pizza place of her own.
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“Family!” laughs Brittany when asked how the resources came together for her to accomplish her dream.
“I always wanted to do this for her,” said Sharlene. “This is a big point I tell people: She’s the only one I’ve ever met in my life that tells me they love their job. She actually likes going to work and for me, that’s phenomenal. That’s always been in the back of my mind.
“My sister, she’s helped us put this venture together, she believes in Brittany and she believes in me and here we are today.”
Asked how they found the spot in the Old Courthouse, Brittany shouts, “She set the floor!”
“When the courthouse was being renovated in 2007, me and her father, with a couple of helpers, we did all the tile in the Old Courthouse,” Sharlene explained.
Having worked with pizza for so many years hasn’t lessened Brittany’s love for it. Her favourite, she said, is a loaded Hawaiian – meat, pineapple, peppers, the works. Sharlene leans towards the Canadian.
The last caller, however, was interested in one of the picks out of the specialty section of Little B’s menu, the Dill Pickle, with creamy garlic sauce, mozza, parmesan, dill and, yes, pickles.
Brittany bursts out in laughter when asked about this one, explaining she tried one eight years ago and has loved it ever since.
Little B’s is open from 3 to 9 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday. For more information, visit them on Facebook or call 250-833-0233.
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