Can the wood-fired oven go in a garden right next to the Maria-ter-Heide forest?

Yes, as long as no branches hang above the oven and there is enough distance from shrubs and dry leaves. We look at photos of the garden beforehand and choose a safe spot together.

How long before the start do you arrive for a birthday?

We are there around ninety minutes before the aperitif, since a wood-fired oven needs time to come up to temperature. So you can happily surprise the birthday guest: we set up quietly while they are still away.

Is there a minimum for a smaller family party?

No, there is no minimum number of guests. A birthday with twenty relatives works too. We match the proposal to the number of people and the formula you choose.

What do children like best from your pizzas?

A margherita or a pizza with ham is always a hit. Because we bake in rounds, children can disappear to play and wander back whenever hunger calls, missing nothing.

Pizza catering by Prestigio in Maria-ter-Heide

Pizza catering in Maria-ter-Heide

On the north side of Brasschaat, the streets of Maria-ter-Heide end where forest and heath begin. In those gardens, with pines as a backdrop, our pizza catering lets a birthday or summer party revolve around the wood-fired oven.

Birthday in your own garden

An eighteenth, a fortieth or a seventieth: in Maria-ter-Heide people prefer to celebrate at home, with the oven as a surprise for the birthday guest.

Light that falls early

At the forest edge the sun disappears behind the trees sooner. So we start the aperitivo a little earlier, letting the meal begin in the last daylight.

Children and grandparents

Family parties here often span three generations. Simple flavours for the youngest, more refined combinations for those who have eaten in Naples.

A garden party with the forest as backdrop

Maria-ter-Heide is the quiet, family-minded part of Brasschaat. Villas stand among greenery, gardens run into woodland, and in the evening you mostly hear birds and the distant hum of the Bredabaan. It is a place where people like to celebrate a birthday or anniversary at home, with family and neighbours who have been looking over the hedge for years.

Such a garden gains a warm core from the oven. The glow of the fire blends beautifully with the dusk light under the trees. While the children are still playing on the grass, the adults stand around the oven with a glass of Aperol, watching the pizzaiolo stretch the dough out in a few movements of his hands.

The evening step by step

We begin with the aperitivo: a platter of antipasti, warm focaccia with coarse salt and rosemary, toasted bread with cherry tomatoes. Anyone who wants to toast the birthday guest or hand over a present does so at this stage, while everyone is still standing. A quarter of an hour later the first pizzas go into the oven and the party moves to the table.

With pizza à volonté the table sets its own pace. Each round brings a few new flavours in slices, and anyone who is full skips one. After a good two hours of baking come the dolci: tiramisu, cannoli and a limoncello for the adults. By then it is dark and only the lights in the trees are burning.

Forest-edge gardens and the oven: what we check

A garden at the forest edge needs a little extra attention. Branches overhanging the oven are not desirable, and sandy ground covered in pine needles has to lie level enough for our working tent, which measures three or four metres square depending on the group. In a dry summer we keep extra distance from shrubs and piles of leaves.

Before your party, send us a photo of the garden and the side access along the house. With it we find the spot that is safe, looks good and sends the smoke away from the terrace. Vegetarians find pizzas in every round as standard; we bake gluten-free or vegan on request, with separate tools.