Portable Oven Classes, 2012, Minnesota

I am now scheduled to teach my oven-building classes at four Minnesota locations in 2012 (updated 9/4/2012). So far, there has been only one class at each location.

The class at Silverwood Park on Saturday, April 28, 2012 was full, and we managed even though it was raining..

Silverwood Park has told me they won't be hosting my class again (they don't see it as being in line with their mission).

The class at Tunnel Mill on Saturday, May 5, 2012 was full, and we managed even though we had thunderstorms and rain.

The next class in Minnesota is Sept. 8, at Gale Woods Farm Park. (Registration is full.)
After that, the next class in Minnesota is Oct 13, at the White Bear Center for the Arts. (Registration is open.)

You can find out more about my class schedule here.

Bare-bones history of web links

I put together a bare-bones history of all of my web links related in some way to wood-fired ovens. (3/7/2012: There are over 3000 links on the pages.)

There is an index page at the top level that links to pages for each month that added any links to my bookmarks.

Looking back I can see that I started much earlier than I realized (2006).

I seem to have collected the most links in 2010.

The main purpose of the collection is so that can ensure that I don't lose any links in case of browser disasters, but they may be of use to somebody.

(At some point I may make them prettier, but I was most interested in getting them written.)

Oven and Shaker, Portland, Oregon

A Willamette Week restaurant review covered two wood-fired pizza places in Portland, Oregon at once.

The second restaurant reviewed was Oven and Shaker, Portland, Oregon.

The review says in part,

Oven and Shaker’s wood-burning oven came ... from Italy, but Whims’ devotion to Northwestern bounty is reflected in her thoroughly untraditional pizza toppings, which include bosc pear, roasted squash and Oregon anchovy. Best of all is the chanterelle, radicchio, fontina, leeks and fried capers pizza ($15), which tastes like a crisp December morning. (If you’d rather not experiment, you can get a standard Margherita or salami pie.)

The web site for Oven and Shaker says in part:

Oven and Shaker is a new urban saloon, bringing delectable wood-burning oven pizza, Italian street food, and ingredient-driven, classic cocktails to Portland’s Pearl District. Oven and Shaker is the collective vision of three Portland hospitality veterans: three-time James Beard nominated chef Cathy Whims (Nostrana), veteran Northwest bartender Ryan Magarian, and ChefStable visionary Kurt Huffman.

This sounds like an Oregon locavore's dream

Via Tribunali, Portland, Oregon

A Willamette Week restaurant review covered two wood-fired pizza places in Portland, Oregon at once.

The first restaurant that it covered was Via Tribunali, Portland, Oregon. (This location is part of a chain of Via Tribunali restaurants.)

The review says in part:

There seems to be no disorder in the kitchen, though. Via Tribunali’s oven runs so hot—1,200 degrees Fahrenheit—that pizzas arrive within 10 minutes of ordering even on a busy night. They are impeccable: thin, very chewy, 12-inch pies, their bottoms charred, their sauces fragrant. The house special ($17) is a rolled-edge thing, topped with tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, cherry tomato, ricotta, buffalo mozzarella, grana padano and basil, that’s about halfway to a calzone. It’s good, but too doughy for my taste. I prefer the basic Margherita ($13, though it’s worth paying another $3 to upgrade to springy, tangy buffalo mozzarella) or, better, the quattro formaggi. The latter is among the best things I’ve eaten this year, covered in a thick-but-not-too-thick stratum of mozzarella, smoked provola and grana padano studded with little land mines of Gorgonzola that detonate on the palate. There are things other than pizza on the menu—a very good mixed salumi board and pleasant, unremarkable salads—and the bar makes a very fine Negroni, but everything is overshadowed by the pizza.

It sounds like an interesting outpost for the Seattle-based chain.

Olio Pizza e Piu, New York, New York

A New York Times article reviewing a different restaurant mentioned Olio Pizza e Piu, New York, New York.

Their home page says in part:

Olio Pizza e Piu brings the West Village something it hasn’t had in a long time, an authentic Neapolitan restaurant. Unique amongst Italian restaurants, Olio is at the intersection of two cities of great cultural and culinary wealth, Naples and New York. Synonymous with pizza for many, Neapolitan food has reached the four corners of the world like few other cuisines. However, the farther it has reached, the food has strayed from the cuisine that originated in Italy, which brought it fame and admiration For this reason, Olio preserves the true richness and character of pizzas, antipasti and pasta, conjuring the smells and tastes that fill the streets of southern Italy. Our love for true Neapolitan food inspires us to make gourmet pizzas and genuine Neapolitan dishes in a wood-burning brick oven as they have for generations in Italy. The only way to truly match our generous menu and exquisite service is to buy a plane ticket for Europe's gorgeous boot.

They also have a Facebook page.

Forcella, New York, New York

A New York Times on-line article reviewed Forcella, New York, New York (and Brooklyn, NY).

The review says in part:

Rather, Mr. Adriani has a fryer. If you follow the pizzarazzi, you might know about his montanara ($10), a margherita made with a crust shaped and flash-fried before being topped and finished in the wood-burning oven. Yes, pizza that’s fried and fired. As the kids put it: double rainbow.

The montanara pulls it off. The fryer lends a crisp airiness to the crust, not to mention a thin coat of oil that has the naughty pleasure of street food; the oven gives it color and adds a little smoke.

The review is not entirely positive.

The business also has a Facebook Restaurant/Cafe page.

It looks like an interesting departure from normal wood-fired pizza.