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It's become easier than ever recently to go out to eat without actually going to a restaurant. Food trucks have become increasingly popular, with even big companies like Olive Garden and White Castle hitting the road. But our hands down favorite food vehicle is the floating pizzeria. One (power) couple quit their jobs in the U.S., flew off to the Virgin Islands, and opened their own. And the even better news is, they're hiring.
According to Daily Mail Online, Tara and Sasha Bouis—originally from Indiana and New York—had an amazing dream to leave the U.S. and sail the Caribbean, all while making a living selling pizza from their boat. Their floating restaurant, creatively named Pizza Pi, has been successfully selling pizzas in St. Thomas since 2014. Boats can pull up next to Pizza Pi for a slice, or the pizza can be delivered to your boat. Um, dream life?
"We'd never heard of a food boat before we built one," said Tara, 32, "and every day we are blown away by the fact that people kept showing up to eat our pizza."
The couple were inspired to open their own food boat after returning from a long day on the water, exhausted and starving. While watching the sunset over beautiful St. Thomas Bay, they thought the only thing missing was a nice slice of pizza (we agree). Sasha had experience working as a captain and Tara had worked as a chef in the past, so they thought, "why not?"
After three years of searching boat yards for the perfect hull, they finally found something they could work with. The boat they found was the perfect size and shape, but they needed to install a commercial-grade pizza kitchen on their boat—a project that would take them nearly two years. In 2014, Pizza Pi was finally completed and opened to any boater in the Virgin Island who was looking for a hot slice of pie.
The couple has been insanely successful since starting their business, selling anywhere from twenty to sixty pies a day. Their busiest day yet? International Pi Day.
"We had a big party in the bay and ended up selling ninety pizzas and I'm proud to say that we closed the day with four dough balls left," said Tara, "We did not sell out, we were able to keep up with demand all day long."
The couple basically has the easiest, dreamiest commute to work ever: "We live on the east end of St. Thomas, close enough to the beach that we can walk to the water, jump in the dinghy and head out to Pi for work each day," they explain.
Not surprisingly, their business is the highest-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor for St. Thomas, with mostly five-star ratings.
If you're feeling particularly inspired by Tara and Sasha's story, you're in luck: they're currently looking for a business manager, a staff member for food prep, and a provisioner for when they reopen after the hurricane season. If life on the mainland is getting to be too much for you, book a ticket for the Virgin Islands and look for the colorful Pizza Pi boat.
