KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The owner of a new Kansas City, Missouri, pizza restaurant has died.
Nick Vella, who began operating Observation Pizza amid the coronavirus pandemic, died Saturday in a motorcycle crash. He was 31 years old.
The Vella family provided the following statement to 41 Action News:
“We are devastated from two different families right now: the Vella family and the Kansas City culinary community. This is a huge loss and Nick Vella will be remembered for his extraordinary life.”
Prior to the pandemic, Vella was a chef at the Savoy at 21c.
He began making pizza at home to pass the time and soon began renting kitchen space from the Bauer in the Crossroads District. Vella expected to open a permanent storefront location for Observation Pizza in October.
A memorial service will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday at 21c, 219 West Ninth Street, in Kansas City, Missouri.
The family requests that attendees wear a mask. Visitors might be asked to wait in a designated area outside in order to adhere to current indoor safety capacities.
The remaining Observation Pizza employees posted to Facebook that they plan to keep the restaurant running in Nick's Memory.
