Hard work and fresh dough make Jed’s pizzas the best in Murray Bridge

This story is brought to you by Murray Bridge News, sponsors of the Murraylands Business Awards.

You’d never guess it, but Murray Bridge’s best-known pizza maker is a big Dean Martin guy.

Jed Mortensen can come across as a fairly reserved fellow at first, a thoughtful gent, but there are two topics guaranteed to get him talking: how to make a good pizza, and the American crooner known as the “King of Cool”.

It’s not his musical taste that keeps customers coming back to Jed’s Bridge Street pizzeria, though.

It’s the consistently high quality of the pizzas that roll out of his oven, five nights a week.

That’s why Jedz won the gong as the region’s best takeaway at the inaugural Murraylands Business Awards in June.

The success the business has achieved, with a spacious new shop on Murray Bridge’s main drag, is something Jed could hardly have imagined when he got his first job at a Strathalbyn pizzeria as a 14-year-old.

All he wanted back then was to save enough money to buy a Chrysler 300C.

“I was obsessed with money,” he confessed.

“I wanted to work as hard as I could and save up as much money as I could.”

To achieve that goal, he started out as a dogsbody: rolling pizza bases, washing dishes and taking clean-up duty.

By the time he turned 17, he’d bought his dream car.

“That was huge for me,” he said.

“I proved to myself that … with planning, assistance and patience, you can accomplish anything.”

With his Chrysler keys in his pocket, then, he set his sights on a new goal: opening his own pizza restaurant.

In 2018, only a couple of years later, ticked that task off his to-do list when the first iteration of Jedz Pizzeria began trading at Strathalbyn.

He was still only 20 years old.

Jedz moved into Murray Bridge another year after that.

“I’m not gonna lie, it was difficult the first couple of years,” Jed said.

“We were consistent, but the town was different back then.

“It’s a lot busier now than it was six or seven years ago.”

Consistency has been the key

He attributed the shop’s turnaround to a handful of factors:

• Simple, affordable pizzas
• Reliable service, and
• Old-fashioned hard work

These days Jedz employs four juniors alongside its owner, and sales are five times what they were in the early years.

On the Saturday evening when Murray Bridge News visited, the phone rang every 30 seconds or so for a good half an hour.

Quick hands worked around the kitchen, fetching bases, spreading sauce, sprinkling toppings and feeding them into the oven.

Jedz has a sterling reputation these days – it was a popular vote that made him the inaugural winner in the best takeaway category at this year’s Murraylands Business Awards, after all.

“To actually see your name up there and going head-to-head with Bridge Takeaway and a few other reputable businesses, it just goes to show that people … really love what you’re doing,” he said.

“I’d like to say a big thank you for all your support, and hopefully you continue to support us.”

But there is one issue its owner has grappled with over the years.

Jedz doesn’t do delivery.

“I’ve been a bit stubborn,” Jed agreed.

“But I think people respect the fact that we’ve stuck to our word.

“Keep it simple, do it right – that’s been my ethic all along.”

‘A great pizza base is the secret to a good pizza’

So, getting back to that question … how do you make the best pizzas in town?

The dough was the critical ingredient, he said, and every pizza shop had its own philosophy.

Should you let it ferment for a couple of days, or not let it rise; should you refrigerate it or keep it at room temperature; how much yeast did it need?

“Honestly, though, I think it’s very simple,” he said.

“Just keep it fresh.

“I’ll come in every morning, I roll the pizza bases around nine or 10 o’clock every morning, let the dough rise to a certain level, then put the bases in the fridge to stop the rising process.”

He never used dough that was more than 12 to 15 hours old, he said.

The toppings Jedz used were the same to what you night find at any number of pizza shops, he said, though his were sourced from Farm Fresh Market, another award-winning local business.

Asked whether he had a favourite pizza, he cracked a grin.

“We used to do this pizza called the smoked salmon, and that was amazing … but unfortunately I didn’t sell enough to keep it on the menu,” he said.

“To be honest with you, I also love a good old, oily, cheesy meat lovers.

“The chicken and avocado is quite nice, the creamy chicken and bacon, and all the traditional ones … I think we have 20 pizzas on the menu and I probably like 17 of them.”

By now, reader, your stomach is probably grumbling.

You may well be counting down the hours til 4pm rolls around and the pizzeria doors open at 60 Bridge Street.

When they do, whether it’s tonight or years from now, Jed Mortensen and his team will be there for you.

“My goal for the years to come is just consistency and reliability, really – that’s all I want,” he said.

“I’ve always had a passion for making pizza.”

If that’s not amore, we don't know what is.

• More information: Call Jedz on 0427 684 249, follow Jedz Pizzeria Murray Bridge on Facebook or visit 60 Bridge Street, Murray Bridge from 4-8pm Wednesday to Sunday.

Disclosure: Jed gave the author a discount when we popped in to take a few photos, and order some dinner, on a recent Saturday night.