Hi Folks,
Just want to get in this one last posting before the monthly flip relegates all the May postings to archives. I'm headed tomorrow to Denver and Boulder for a couple of days for some bread work and also to check in on Joseph Pergolizza, founder of The Fire Within (see his website at www.portablebrickpizzaoven.com ). Like our friends at Dog Town, Joe builds mobile brick ovens, and also trains folks and helps them get their pizza businesses on the road. Like the food carts of Portland (and everywhere else before too long), these pizza carts are a sub-section of what I think is the most exciting food trend in the country right now--street food.
I can still remember, as if it were yesterday, the day in 1988 that Alan Scott, the master oven builder, walked into our (Susan and my) tiny restaurant in Forestville, CA and told us we should have a wood-fired oven and he'd help me build it. I laughed and thought, this guy is crazy. Our place was far too small and the idea just seemed so romantic and idealistic that I feared, cynic that I was, that it would never get off the ground. But Alan and I remained friends and, even though I never got to build an oven with him, I sure have baked in a lot of Alan Scott ovens, as well as Forno Bravo's, Mugnaigni's, and just about every other type. I was wrong--idealism can become reality when it's fueld by, as Joe has coined it, the fire within. Now that I finally do have my own oven (a lovely Forno Bravo Primavera) too am on fire with them. I only wish Alan Scott was still alive so I could tell him thanks--but I believe he's watching it all with a bemused smile.
So, I'll be back in a few days with a report on my visit to Joe's place as well as with some new details on our new website. Yes, we finally set a launch date, which I will reveal in the next post as soon as we get confirmation that it's solid. I've seen the prototype, love it, and I think it's going to be very exciting for all of us. Again,more news to come in about a week, so stay tuned.
Happy Memorial Day and thank you to all those brave souls who have given their own lives for the cause of freedom everywhere. We honor you!
And May Your Bread Always Rise!
Peter
