AOA Bar & Grill, New York, New York

My Google alert pulls through again, this time finding a mention of the AOA Bar & Grill in New York City.

This looks like a real beer and pizza place ("25 craft beers and over 50 bottled").

In addition, they have a regularly scheduled pizza-making class. (Now I know why people were thinking the price for my all-day oven-building class was not out of line with New York prices.)

I did find a limited-time offer for the class at a significant discount (but check out the fine print).

GardenFork.TV, a blog that mentioned wood-fired ovens

Sometimes I see the blogs of other people with interests that overlap mine.

One case of this is a blog that has its own simple charm: GardenFork.TV.

I added a collection of links to pages of theirs that I found interesting or useful.

They do both their own stuff and republish other people's contributions that are related to what they have done.

They did a brick oven pizza video that got some responses from other people who had done something very similar, somewhat less similar, or not so similar.

Their brick oven pizza video even got picked up and repackages for a Make posting.

Their approach certainly seems to work, even if it's not the way I do it, but good for them.

Portable Oven Class, Gale Woods Farm Park, Minnetrista, Minnesota, Sept. 8, 2012

I have an agreement with the farm supervisor at Gale Woods Farm Park to hold my portable oven-building class on Sept. 8, 2012, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Tim Reese, who organized cob oven-building classes at Gale Woods, has been kind enough to let me return to Gale Woods. While I have not had my oven-building class there, members of the Saint Paul Bread Club did build portable brick ovens there in 2009, as recorded in an Extras segment by KARE-11.

We are aiming to leave the oven up to help Gale Woods celebrate their harvest festival Oct. 6 and 7.

Update August 3: Registration is now available on-line.
Update September 4: Class is now full, with a waiting list.
Update Februray 15: Next class is scheduled for April 20, 2013.

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).

Portable Oven Class, Prescott, WI, June 16, 2012

I will be returning once again to Prescott, Wisconsin, to teach my portable oven class.

The contents of the class are fully described here.

Registration information for the class is on this page of the Borner Farm Project.

In short, I show people how to build an oven from stacked bricks, how to make the doughs for naan, pita, pizza, and bread, and then bake them all in an oven we build as part of class. We then get to eat all of that. In past classes we have baked up to 15 pieces of naan, 8 pita bread, 5 pizzas, and a loaf of bread in an hour and a half.

Companion Bakery, Oatsland, Tasmania

Sometimes you stumble onto the most interesting things.

In my case, a Facebook group had a link to a webcam inside a bakery. Part of what was interesting, was that  this bakery used a wood-fired oven. Another interesting thing was that it was in Tasmania.

So, the Companion Bakery seems to be mentioned in a couple of different web sites, including their own. They are also mentioned in a website about sourdough baking.

I doubt I will get to see them in person, but it's been interesting looking over the shoulders of the baker toiling away to make good bread.

May 2012 Saveur Magazine, Issue 147

A magazine I never thought to pick up before, Saveur, has an issue, May, 2012, issue 147, with the cover headline, "Make this bread."

The executive editor, Dana Bowen, had some nice things to say about bread bakers on page 8.

The article itself starts with a two-page picture on pages 42 and 43, with a headline, "Special feature: American bread." There's discussion on the inside about the artisan bread movement. There's an interesting timeline about bread and baking.

One significant quotation from the timeline:

1983: The American artisan bread movement blossoms when Steve Sullivan opens Acme Bread Company in Berkeley, California, and Daniel Leader opens Bread Alone in Boiceville, New York. Both use natural leaveners and wood-fired ovens.

I do have sites marked for the Acme Bread Company and for Bread Alone Bakery.

I did find in interesting that my passion for wood-fired ovens seems to be a reflection of a trend that started almost 30 years ago. (What can I say? I'm snail; I'm naturally slow.)

Alan Scott-style Oven Class, near Twin Cities, Minnesota, July 13-15, 2012

Rae Ann Vandeputte has cancelled  her brick oven building course at her home in Victoria, MN.

The remaining part of this message just preserves the original details. It no longer applies.

The class will learn how to build an Alan Scott oven from oven-builder and rustic bread baker Derek Luchese. Derek teaches the oven-building course at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN and is owner of Both Hands Bread, South Gillies, ON.

The course is offered at a significantly lower cost and near the Twin Cities so that

• more folks can learn how to build ovens
• Rae Ann Vandeputte can get some help building her oven

During the course you will actually build an oven to near-completion, gaining experience with pouring the concrete hearth slab, setting the firebricks for the hearth, and building an arched oven vault. All materials will be provided; you just bring some gloves and dirty clothes.

More details about the class can be found at the web site she built for the class.

If you or anyone you would know might like to take this fun course, have them look at the class registration page.
You can also contact Rae Ann Vandeputte at 612-381-7908 or raeann.vandeputte@gmail.com

Dates: July 13-15, 2012 (all day for each day)
Cost: $250.00 (meals provided)
Location: 8400 Allegheny Grove Blvd, Victoria, MN 55386

Original source

The Line, March 7, 2012

The on-line magazine, The Line, has an on-line article about an event at the St. Agnes Baking Company, which mentions the Saint Paul Bread Club, and this blog.

The article says in part:

Today the club is a lively entity, claiming 342 members in 110 cities, including Crested Butte and Santa Barbara--so it wears its Saint Paul identity somewhat lightly. There are regular meetings, bakeoffs, and classes. And there's a particular, if logical, obsession with ovens, driven mainly by club member David S. Cargo. He offers oven-building classes (in April and May this year), maintains the Quest for Ovens blog, and tirelessly promotes the idea of community ovens--a sensible next step after community gardens, I think.

It's nice that this blog has gotten some mention.

This is the page that lists my oven-building classes.

Community Oven Radio Interview

I am going to be interviewed on March 3 by a freelance radio journalist preparing a story for Los Angeles station KCRW's Good Food program. The subject will be community ovens. (I don't know the date and time the story will air.)

I will update this post when I know the date and time the story will air. KCRW does stream their programming over the web, so you can listen even if you are not in Los Angeles.

March 3, 2012: I was visited by a recordist who sat by me holding a microphone while I answered questions phoned in by the interviewer. We talked for over half an hour. Date and time of the broadcast are still not known, by me anyway, so no update for that yet. It was an honor to be of use, and maybe it will make my efforts promoting community ovens more visibility.

May 20, 2012: I was interviewed as part of the community oven segment in this program for KCRW; it starts at about 49 minutes into the show. (I speak a few times before they play me saying who I am.): Good Food

Portable Oven Classes, Staten Island, April 14 & 15, 2012

I have a person who really wants to take my portable oven-building class, but lives on Staten Island (part of New York City).

Update 3/29/2012: Not enough people registered for this trip to work out on these dates. We are going to see if we can find another set of dates that work further into the future. If you are interested, drop me a note.

If we can get all the materials and enough people registered, we would hold two classes, one on Saturday, April 14, and one on Sunday, April 15.

The costs to the students would have to be high enough to cover my normal class fees plus travel expenses.

If you are interested in learning how to build a brick oven in a day, or going from bare ground in the morning to wood-fired oven pizza for lunch, you can use the information in the announcement linked to below to sign up for the class.

This class is especially for people who love wood-fired pizza, but thought that building their own oven would be too hard and too expensive. These ovens are easier and cheaper than you might think.

The details of the class have now been set, and there is an announcement on Craig's List.

Alan Scott-style Oven Class, near Twin Cities, Minnesota, May 4-6, 2012

Carrie Jennings will be holding a brick oven building course at her home in southern Dakota County.

The class will learn how to build an Alan Scott oven from oven-builder and rustic bread baker Derek Luchese. Derek teaches the oven-building course at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN and is owner of Both Hands Bread, South Gillies, ON.

The course is offered at a significantly lower cost and near the Twin Cities so that

• more folks can learn how to build ovens
• Carrie Jennings can get some help building his oven
• part of the course cost will go toward a donation to the Cannon River Watershed Partnership

During the course you will actually build an oven to near-completion, gaining experience with pouring the concrete hearth slab, setting the firebricks for the hearth, and building an arched oven vault. All materials will be provided; you just bring some gloves and dirty clothes.

If you or anyone you would know might like to take this fun course, have them contact Carrie Jennings at:
carriegeo@gmail.com

Dates: May 4-6, 2012 (all day for each day)
Cost: $250.00 (meals provided)
Location: map

Free camping or sleeping in the barn is a possibility.

Original source

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.

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.