Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California

An article in the Encinitas Patch profiled a firefighter who started a mobile oven business as a sideline to prepare for retirement.

The article says in part:

After almost 30 years with the Encinitas Fire Department, firefighter John Gonzales began contemplating his upcoming retirement in 2015.

He thought it was time to shake things up in his life, and make a move, and this past July, he started Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza. Bottaro is the maiden name of his mother, an Italian-American.

In launching a business, Gonzales decided on a product that he loved himself and knew something about.

The business is Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California. The home page says in part:

Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza is an oven on wheels and as we like to call it "Pizza A-Go-Go". We also have salads and appetizers and cook all our food on site. You can find us at Street Fairs and Farmers Markets and also cater Private Parties and Events.

We use the freshest, local produce available, make our own sausage and use organic flour from Utah. Your pizza will bake in about 90 seconds in temperatures of 700 to 900 degrees. All your Family and Friends will appreciate the uniqueness of a Wood Burning Oven as we prepare and cook their food using "Old World" techniques right in your backyard or favorite setting.

This sounds like an interesting variation on the mobile oven business.

Community Oven, Los Angeles, California

The people who make up the Los Angeles Bread Bakers (a bread club) decided to build their own community oven. As part of the effort to document what was done, Alexandra Woodruff, one of their members, created a segment for the Good Food program on radio KCRW (the segment starts about 49 minutes into the show). Some pictures of the community oven were added to a post in the KCRW blog.

LABB has its own Facebook group page.

Alexandra Woodruff had interviewed me over the phone for the segment; I'm definitely in there. I am grateful for the opportunity to tell people about community ovens.

During my few words in the interview I mentioned a few community ovens that I know about. These included:

• Carbondale, CO
• Tenderloin National Forest (San Francisco, CA)
• Youngstown, OH
• Braddock, PA

These are all on my global list of community oven links (along with a map of community ovens in the US).

Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California

An article in the Encinitas Patch profiled a firefighter who started a mobile oven business as a sideline to prepare for retirement.

The article says in part:

After almost 30 years with the Encinitas Fire Department, firefighter John Gonzales began contemplating his upcoming retirement in 2015.

He thought it was time to shake things up in his life, and make a move, and this past July, he started Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza. Bottaro is the maiden name of his mother, an Italian-American.

In launching a business, Gonzales decided on a product that he loved himself and knew something about.

The business is Bottaro Wood-Fired Pizza, San Diego, California. The home page says in part:

Bottaro Wood Fired Pizza is an oven on wheels and as we like to call it "Pizza A-Go-Go". We also have salads and appetizers and cook all our food on site. You can find us at Street Fairs and Farmers Markets and also cater Private Parties and Events.

We use the freshest, local produce available, make our own sausage and use organic flour from Utah. Your pizza will bake in about 90 seconds in temperatures of 700 to 900 degrees. All your Family and Friends will appreciate the uniqueness of a Wood Burning Oven as we prepare and cook their food using "Old World" techniques right in your backyard or favorite setting.

This sounds like an interesting variation on the mobile oven business.

Central Market Restaurant, Petaluma, California

A weekly column for the Sonoma Valley Sun highlighted the Central Market Restaurant, Petaluma, California.

The column says in part:

Located in downtown Petaluma, Central Market sits right on the charming town’s main street. The space is utterly delightful, with a rustic brick wall, soaring ceilings and tall windows, which allow for splendid views of the neighboring historic buildings. The light is somehow perfect, soft and golden. A wood-burning oven presides over the dining room, emitting a cozy warmth. The whole effect is completely romantic. Although both the staff and the atmosphere are marvelous, what guests return for over and over is Chef-owner Tony Najiola’s lovingly prepared, seasonal cuisine

The page on the Central Market's own site says a little about the oven:

In the heart of the dining room, behind the fresh oyster bar, you will find Tony and his highly trained crew pulling piping hot creations from the glowing wood burning oven.

Sounds like a lot more than your ordinary wood-fired restaurant.

Nevada City Community Oven, Nevada City, California

Sometimes there are only a few clues, sometimes more.

There was a Wordpress blog, which disappeared. I did later find a replacement blog post that mentioned a community oven in Nevada City, California.

The post says in part:

The Bluebird Farm contingency has decided to revive the Thursday night summer potlucks……..only they have centered the gathering around a communal bread bake. They have built a cobb oven at the Wet Hill Road homestead off Cement Hill Road. A cobb oven is a wood fired oven made from clay and straw.

I did find a Wet Hill Road off of Cement Hill Road. Looking for information about Bluebird Farm turned up a page with a picture, which links to a page with some directions, but not to anyplace on Wet Hill Road.

I did add a section heading in the community oven links page for this oven. It's on the community oven map as well.

Culver City Community Oven, Culver City, California

I added some more section headers to my community oven links page with headings for some of the community ovens I had previously discovered in California.

One of the ones I knew about was in Culver City, CA, mentioned in a Orange County Weekly blog post.

The blog post says in part:

Finally, the place to be an Southern California food lover that weekend is at the Helms Bakery complex in Culver City, where the Eat Real Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday. While there will be plenty of food trucks there, the focus of the festival is on food making. There will be masterclasses on preserving, fermenting and pickling; there will be a pig-butchery contest; there will be a community oven and sourdough lessons.

This sounds like a one-time community oven, rather than a regularly scheduled repeating event.

In fact, when I look at the Eat Real Festival site, I could not find any mention of a community oven. So, maybe it's there and maybe it isn't.

TNF Community Oven SF, San Francisco, California

Sometimes I get lucky right away. And sometimes I have to do a bit of detective work to trace down what I am really looking for.

My Google Alert found a post about a dance show called "Our Daily Bread." This post mentioned, "the outdoor pizza oven which is a community oven for the neighborhood’s enjoyment."

I was eventually able to contact the dancer and choreographer Amara Tabor-Smith, who put me in touch with Daryl Smith, who kindly furnished me with some pictures of what is called the Tenderloin National Forest.

With that name as a clue, I was able to find a few more links that were related. (There is even a page for the Tenderloin National Forest that mentions the oven.)

There was another post about Amara Tabor-Smith, a picture of the oven on flickr, and an older page about the history of the Tenderloin National Forest.

Daryl Smith (in an e-mail to me) said, "The oven's use is always a supervised activity, usually by me or someone from our group who has been oriented to all safety issues related."

The oven now appears on my map of US community ovens, and I have created an entry for it on my community oven page.

Epic Roasthouse, San Francisco, California

My Google Alert pulled up an interesting blog post,  which says in part, "As many of you know the soul of our kitchen is a wood burning brick oven. It is made of twenty-two thousand pounds of sand, brick and stone."

The post was something of a mystery, since it did not plainly identify whose kitchen it was. There were some clues: The blog was titled, "Epic Chefs Blog," (to which I respond, "They do?").

The blog entry was posted by "Epic Roasthouse." That sounded like something searchable.

Indeed, a quick Google search turned up the site for Epic Roasthouse, San Francisco, California.

Their home page says in part, "Chef Birnbaum will preside over a custom-built wood-fired grill and a large wood-burning oven, which, along with a spectacular fireplace, will serve as the design focal point of the restaurant."

Sounds like an interest place.

Brick Oven Pub, Sacramento, California

A web site for Sacramento Beer Week mentioned Placerville's Brick Oven Pub.

Sounds like it might be fun.

Pavich's Brick Oven Pizzafe, Rancho Palos Verdes, California

A restaurant review for the Manhattan Beach Patch covered Pavich's Brick Oven Pizzafe, Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

(Apparently they don't have a web site of their own; they do have several reviews on yelp.)

The review says in part, "But if you’re like most people, that first visit won’t be your last. You’ll come back to the restaurant again and again until your company transfers you to Outer Elbonia -- and even then, there’ll be trips home."

Further down, "The oven is not just for pizza. Pavić goes out early in the morning for pork that will roast four and a half hours before being stuffed into roasted pork sandwiches with roasted yellow bell peppers, white garlic sauce, and lettuce ($7.56). The bread, in round loafs called Somun, comes out of the oven as well."

City Pizzeria, San Diego, California

The pizza reviewers at Serious Eats Slice had a review of City Pizzeria, San Diego, California.

The review says in part, "In downtown San Diego, a legitimately good slice of pizza can be hard to find. It turns out the best way to quell a pizza craving is to go a few blocks off the main drag to City Pizzeria, a thin-crust pizza shop that proofs its dough overnight to perfect its texture and flavor. Pizzas are cooked in a vintage brick oven and feature fresh, high quality ingredients. For $3 a slice (or $6 for two slices and a drink), you can't beat it."

It has pictures of some slices, but not of the oven.

Craig's, Los Angeles, California

Eater LA has a short piece about Craig's, Los Angeles, California.

It says in part, "Here the eats are primarily American with a touch of Italian, pasta is made in house, there's a wood-fired pizza oven, and...fried chicken."

There are some pictures as well.

Hot Italian, Sacramento, California

The Sacramento News & Review has a story about the Italian chef behind Hot Italian, Sacramento, California.

The story says in parts:

"Hailing from La Spezia, Italy, Fabrizio Cercatore brings authentic neapolitan pizza to Sacramento at Hot Italian (1627 16th Street). Featuring the same one-size-fits-all thin-crust pizza Cercatore serves at his restaurant in Italy, Hot Italian also offers salads, paninis, gelato and free Wi-Fi. The atmosphere and quality ingredients offer a true taste of Italy in Midtown."

"What I see in many Italian restaurants here is that they are afraid and they change. They compromise authenticity and quality. I use the same wood-burning oven that I use in Italy, and the same dough machine that I use in Italy. … It was a little more expensive to bring here, but I’m sure it’s the quality I want."

Cotogna, San Francisco, California

An entry for an SF Weekly blog reviews Cotogna, San Francisco, California.

The review says in part, "But I found myself thinking over and over again about Cotogna's spit-roast pork, tiny carrots caramelized in the oven with honey, pappardelle with lamb braised in the wood-fired oven."

Another blog had a trip report there; their report says in part, "The space showcases many wide glass windows, exposed woods (everything seems brown in here), and a wood-fired oven (with spare wood surrounding the entrance)."

Saison, San Francisco, California

Sometimes the clues to finding a business with a brick oven are easy to overlook.

My Google Alert brought my attention to a Easter SF food blog about a place called Dcantr.

Buried in the piece was this line, "I was too busy savoring winning items from the brief but show-stopping-good menu, like ... a braised Petaluma chicken leg cooked with podi spices in Saison’s outdoor wood-fired oven."

So, it's not Dcantr that has the oven, but Saison. It does not look like a place for casual dining....

Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano in Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park

It appears a Disney-sponsored blog has a review of a Disney-run restaurant, Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano in Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

The blog post says in part, "Another alluring part of the Mama Melrose’s atmosphere is the open kitchen, which is clearly visible as soon as you enter the restaurant. The most prominent feature of this kitchen is the large brick oven in which the pizzas are cooked. Not only does the open kitchen allow you to see the food be prepared, but it also gives the restaurant a tremendous aroma as the smell of the cooking food spreads throughout the entire dining area. All the activity and noise of the kitchen also lend a sense of action and excitement to the restaurant."