Nallikari's Bistoria Patio treats you to Neapolitan pizzas and sea views

Bistoria Patio in Oulu's Nallikari attracts customers with its stunning setting. With a live fire in an authentic Italian pizza oven, Neapolitan pizzas, a large terrace and a seaside atmosphere, the restaurant is a unique place to visit also from afar.

The City of Oulu is investing in the development of Nallikari, which is reflected in the services in the area. Bistoria Patio, located in the new building of the Aalto Apartment Hotel, opened in early 2024, serving both local visitors and guests of the hotel.

At the heart of the restaurant is an authentic Italian Marana Forni pizza oven, which produces the popular Neapolitan-style pizzas. 

– The pizza oven is the heart of our restaurant. We built the whole restaurant around it, the food product and also the colouring of the restaurant's interior came from the Marana Forni oven, says Janne Gehör, Managing Director of ProDine Oy and one of the entrepreneurs.

Neapolitan pizza has been a success from the moment it opened: pizza is the restaurant's undisputed number one product, and the most popular pizza is the truffle pizza Tartufata. The company imports its own truffles, as well as Italian hams and wines, among other things.

The chicken rotisserie has also become a popular choice. Of course, the Italian-style Bistoria also serves pasta, risotto, fresh salads and real gelato.
For hotel guests and others spending the day in Nallikarí, the Bistoria Patio offers a daily breakfast menu. Open from early morning until late evening, the restaurant caters for diners, coffee drinkers and cocktail lovers alike.

 

Gehör says the restaurant, which seats around 70, has been full from the start. During the summer, the restaurant can seat 100 more customers when the large seaside terrace is in use. 

– Our terrace is practically in the middle of the beach and on a nice day it's guaranteed to be packed, says Gehör.

Product development in Kerava

The best part of opening a new restaurant, according to Gehör, is the planning.

– When we set out to make Bistoria Patio, we were able to design a restaurant in a completely new building. We planned what kind of food product we would use to develop our idea, and we got practical help with equipment from Metos.

– Metos has an amazingly good and professional design team who didn't get nervous about our ideas. They used their experience to make all our ideas work within the space, says Gehör.

To support product development, the ProDine Oy entrepreneurs also visited Kerava to test the equipment and see how their recipes and ingredients worked in the pizza oven and rotisserie grill.

The adjustments of the shiny new pizza oven, in particular, had to be tested first - the Marana was a new type of equipment for all the testers, including the chef.

– Tässä laitteessa säädetään sekä kiertonopeutta että lämpötilaa, jotta saadaan täydellistä pizzaa. Me lähdimme nostamaan asteita vähitellen, ja saimme testaamalla juuri oikeanlaisen värin pizzaan ja reunat kunnolla kohoamaan napolilaisen pizzan tapaan.

– This machine adjusts both the rotation speed and the temperature to make the perfect pizza. We started gradually increasing the degrees, and by testing we got just the right color on the pizza and the edges to rise properly like a Neapolitan pizza.

A trio of entrepreneurs and three restaurants

In addition to Janne Gehör, ProDine Oy, which runs Bistoria Patio, is run by Katja Pasanen and Antti Lindholm. The trio started their restaurant career together at Ravintola Nallikari, and now also own Bistoria Iso-Syöte and the new Bistoria Patio. 

– At Ravintola Nallikari we serve lunch, à la carte and we cater for corporate clients: we organize meetings, congresses, saunas and family celebrations, among other things, says Gehör.

Bistoria Patio is now in its first year. What new restaurants are currently on the restaurant owner's radar?

– There are some ideas, but I've promised the board that I won't take on any new projects. For now, we'll focus on these existing restaurants for a while at least! Gehör laughs.