Pizza from wood-burning ovens

[Robert Lauriston]

So many places have opened I wonder if I've missed some. I'll post my list in a reply so the topic doesn't open with a soon-to-be-out-of-date list.

[Melanie Wong]

South Bay:
Tomato-Thyme, San Jose
http://www.tomato-thyme.com

Anyone tried the pizza here?

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Tomato Thyme-Willow Glen
1560 Hamilton Ave, San Jose, CA 95125

[vulber]

probably also relevant to mention that jon darsky, the flour + water pizzaiolo, is leaving to start his own pizza place with a wood-burning oven

[tvham]

Farina?

[Melanie Wong]

East Bay
La Piazza - Orinda
Pizzeria Amoroma - Orinda
Faz - Pleasanton, Danville
Lark Creek - Walnut Creek
Tomatina - Walnut Creek, Alameda, Dublin
Il Fornaio - Walnut Creek
Prima Ristorante - Walnut Creek
Chow - Danville, Lafayette

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Prima Ristorante
1522 North Main St., Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Nizza La Bella
827 San Pablo Ave, Albany, CA 94706

Chow
53 Lafayette Cir, Lafayette, CA 94549

Il Fornaio
1430 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Chow
445 Railroad Ave, Danville, CA

Faz Restaurant & Bar
5121 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton, CA 94588

Faz Restaurant & Bar
600 Hartz Avenue, Danville, CA 94526

Lark Creek Walnut Creek
1360 Locust Street, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Pizzeria Amoroma
65 Moraga Way, Orinda, CA 94563

La Piazza
15 Moraga Way, Orinda, CA 94563

[tomatoaday]

Tomatina's ovens are gas fired Woodstones, not wood. Pizza Antica's are also gas fired, not sure of any others mentioned.

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks for the correction. I saw so many customer refs to tomatinas wood oven, I didn't take the time to verify the info with the restaurants. just shows how much confusion there is out there. All the others are from the company website.

[Melanie Wong]

East Bay
Taheri's Mediterranean, Walnut Creek

And, when it opens Locanda da Eva in Berkeley.
http://locandadaeva.com/

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Taheri's Mediterranean Restaurant
2999 Oak Rd, Walnut Creek, CA 94597

[rworange]

Chez Spencer, the original location of Citizen Cake, has a wood-burning oven. However, being oriented to French food, pizza-type dishes aren't often featured.

[SteveG]

If you include Il Fornaio and Piatti, you may as well include Chow. Never quite earth shattering, but always satisfying.

[Melanie Wong]

SF
Zuppa
PizzaHacker http://thepizzahacker.com/

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Zuppa
564 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

[Melanie Wong]

SF
Pizza Nostra
Venticello
Park Chow
Chow

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Lulu
816 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94107

Park Chow
1238 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122

Chow
215 Church St, San Francisco, CA 94114

Il Fornaio
1265 Battery St, San Francisco, CA 94111

Bistro Don Giovanni
4110 Howard Ln, Napa, CA

Pizza Nostra
300 De Haro St, San Francisco, CA

Flour + Water
2401 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Venticello
1257 Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

[Melanie Wong]

SF
Palio d'Asti
Waterbar

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Palio D' Asti
640 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, CA 94111

Waterbar
399 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA

[Melanie Wong]

Peninsula
Donato Enoteca, Redwood City
Pronto Rotisserie & Pizzeria, Redwood City
Cafe Silan, Menlo Park
La Strada, Palo Alto
Mayfield Bakery & Cafe, Palo Alto
Howie's Artisan Pizza, Palo Alto
Oregano's, Los Altos
Woodie, catering

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La Strada
335 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Cafe Silan
867 Santa Cruz Ave, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Mayfield Bakery & Cafe
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Donato Enoteca
1041 Middlefield Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063

Wood Fire Woodie
3333 S El, Camino Real San Mateo, CA

Pronto Rotisserie & Pizzeria
2560 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA 94061

[Shane Greenwood]

Wood Fire Woodie has that address listed, however they do not have an actual location. They are only catering these days.

[bbulkow]

And, arguably, Cafe Silan doesn't serve pizza. Kurdish flatbread is far more interesting and better than pizza!

[Melanie Wong]

Another for the Peninsula would be Babbo's in the Stanford Shopping Center.

[Melanie Wong]

North Bay
Diavola, Geyserville
Monti's Rotisserie, Santa Rosa
Jackson's Oven, Santa Rosa
Pizzavino 707, Sebastopol
Manzanita, Healdsburg
Kashaya, farmers markets
Pizza Politana, farmers markets
Rosso mobile, farmers markets

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Monti's Rotisserie & Bar
714 Village Ct, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Kashaya's Brick Oven Pizza
Santa Rosa, CA, Santa Rosa, CA

Pizza Politana
91 Rocca Drive, Petaluma, CA

Pizza Vino 707
6948 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol, CA

[Melanie Wong]

North Bay
Swiss Hotel - Sonoma
Estate - Sonoma
El Dorado Kitchen - Sonoma
Carneros Bistro - Sonoma
Seafood Peddler - San Rafael
Small Shed Flatbreads - Mill Valley
Evan Shively, catering - Marshall
Cantinetta Piero - Yountville
Mammarella - Napa
Boskos Trattoria - Calistoga
Bistros des Copains - Occidental
Gold Coast - Duncans Mill
Skyhawk Village Market - Santa Rosa

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Pizzeria Picco
320 Magnolia Ave, Larkspur, CA 94939

Small Shed Flatbreads
17 Madrona St, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar
53 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA

Gold Coast Coffee & Bakery
25101 Steelhead Blvd, Duncans Mills, CA

Swiss Hotel & Restaurant
18 W Spain St, Sonoma, CA 95476

Bosko's Trattoria
1364 Lincoln Ave, Calistoga, CA 94515

Estate
400 W Spain St, Sonoma, CA 95476

Carneros Bistro & Wine Bar
1325 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476

Mammarella's
630 Airpark Road, Napa, CA

Seafood Peddler
100 Yacht Club Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901

El Dorado Kitchen & Hotel
405 1st St W, Sonoma, CA 95476

Skyhawk Village Market
5755 Mountain Hawk Dr, Santa Rosa, CA 95409

[shanghaikid]

personally saw the brick oven at pizzeria picco and they burnt the pizza! the pizza at rosso was thin and tasted wood cooked but i didn't look for it though i was there.

[Melanie Wong]

With the exception of Tomatina, all the places I've listed here are based on my personal visits and/or from the establishment's own website.

[rworange]

Yountville - opened in December - Cantinetta Piero at the Hotel Luca
http://hotellucanapa.com/cantinetta-p...

[farmersdaughter]

I believe Pizza Politana, who come to the Thursday Ferry Building Farmers' Market, has a wood oven.

[steve h.]

I like what Tony Gemignani has done at Tony's Pizza Napoletana. Any word on what Anthony Mangieri, late of Una Pizza Napoletana in Manhattan, is up to? Last I heard, he was planning a place in SOMA. That info has to be at least six-months old now.

[Robert Lauriston]

Only three months old: http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives...

[ernie in berkeley]

East Bay: West Berkeley Bowl.

[10foot5]

That pizza may be from a wood oven but the one I had was beyond awful. Dough was raw underneath the soggy tomato slices. Crust was thin but flavorless. Sauce pedestrian. Never again.

[ernie in berkeley]

How long ago was this? They didn't have the permit for the wood stove until early December. That said, the pie I had a couple of weeks ago wasn't so great, not soggy, though.

[Robert Lauriston]

They were burning wood in it yesterday. Did they have to install a special scrubber or something? The emissions controll law that the city passed in 2001 was generally reported as being effectively a ban on new wood ovens in restaurants.

[ernie in berkeley]

No idea, but it is striking that there's no aroma of wood burning, inside or outside.

[Robert Lauriston]

I smelled it inside.

[10foot5]

My experience was well before December. Thanks for the clarification.

I probably won't bother trying again though - I've been pretty disappointed across the board with food from West Berkeley Bowl Cafe. (I've had pizza, Cuban sandwich, grilled cheese, sausage sandwich).

[jsaimd]

Well i am not saying this list all has the best piiza, but more from Peninsula/South bay:

Amici's (multiple locations) - actually not sure it is wood fired or not
Howie's Artisan Pizza (Palo Alto)
Willow Street (San Jose)
Pizza Antica (multiple locations) - I think it is a wood oven??
Cafe Silan (Menlo Park)

And I can't even eat pizza...I just drool over everyone elses experiences...

[Robert Lauriston]

Amici's and Anatica both use the confusingly named (perhaps deliberately so) Wood Stone brand gas ovens.

[tomatoaday]

I don't think it was a deliberate misnomer. The web site shows a large variety of deck and traditional dome style ovens. I believe they originally burned wood and then as gas became more popular, both for ease of use and emission control, first required conversions to use gas and are now produced to use both fuel sources. It is pretty clear when you look into them which are fuled by burning logs and which have flames coming from piping around the edge of the cooking deck. I have had good to great pizza from both, as well as impingers, Roto Flexes, coal, brick lined and decks. After all, ovens are tools, same as knives and saute pans.

[Robert Lauriston]

Maybe it's not deliberate, at least on the part of the manufacturer, but it clearly leads to confusion. You can't hear the capitalization when a waiter tells you, "Our pizzas come from a Wood Stone oven."

[a_and_w]

Count me among the confused. That's super shady.

[SanJoseHound]

I've had Amici's and Pizza Antica and they have just been so-so, meh. Willow Street doesn't do anything for me either. Maybe I'm just a picky pizza eater? But my first experience at Oliveto Cafe, my first bite of the egg/arugula pizza with added pancetta, I was in love. I want pizza like that. I am officially jealous of the East Bay.

[Scott M]

From your recent pizza experiences, it looks like you are in the North Bay area. Your best bet in that area is to try Picco Pizzeria in Larkspur. Probably the closest to the East Bay pie you will find in that neck of the woods.

[SanJoseHound]

I live and work in San Jose. I've had Amici's in San Jose, Pizza Antica at Santana Row, and Willow Street in Willow Glen.

[Melanie Wong]

Well, I'd say Rosso or Pizza Vino 707 (which is owned by Stephen Singer).

Is Ubuntu in Napa still making pizza at lunch time? Does Bistro Don Giovanni bake the pizzas in the wood fired oven?

[Dave.Pitinga]

Bistro Don Giovanni uses wood. Good pie.

[hhc]

No more pizza at Ubuntu & no cauliflower in cast iron pot - so sad. I went on 1/2/10 and those two items were my reasons for trying it.

[bbulkow]

Odd story. During the summer, I was bicycling in Napa, envisioning my evening reservation at Ubuntu, and I met a guy by the side of the road who said the Cauliflower was no longer great. They didn't have the cauliflower on the menu that night, but since I had been warned off, I didn't miss it.

There's a serious tension between presenting a well known menu and using your daily ingredients. A restaurant like Ubuntu that's presenting a casual face has an even worse problem, because people expect a menu that's not constantly shifting.

We have to let Ubuntu continue to shift and find their place - I enjoy watching them grow and change.

[Robert Lauriston]

People who go to Ubuntu should expect a constantly changing menu, since (1) it's driven entirely by what's in season and what they get from their garden, and (2) it has been changing daily since they opened. Plus a restaurant doesn't keep its Michelin star by being stuck in a rut.

I asked about the cauliflower when we ate there the other night, and the server said something like "never say never."

[shanghaikid]

was at pizza antica, lafayette, recently, their "stove" isn't wood but definitely aluminum.
remember seeing the name "wood oven" on the nameplate. crust was chewy, not so thin. pizza a disappointment. place was packed, people didn't care/lnow.

[vulber]

It's not technically pizza, but NOPA's flatbread is nearly the same thing

[Robert Lauriston]

SF
A16
Flour + Water
Il Fornaio
Local Kitcnen + Wine Merchant
Lulu
Rose Pistola
Tommaso's
Tony's Pizza Napoletana
Zuni Cafe (lunch only)

East Bay
Cafe at Chez Panisse - Berkeley
Cugini - Albany
Marzano - Oakland (two locations)
Nizza - Albany
Oliveto - Oakland
Paradiso - San Leandro
Pizzaiolo - Oakland

North Bay
Cucina - San Anselmo
Piatti - Mill Valley
Picco Pizzeria - Larkspur
Poggio - Sausalito
Rosso - Santa Rosa
Tra Vigne - St. Helena

Contra Costa County
Pizza Amoroma - Orinda

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Zuni Cafe
1658 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Pizzaiolo
5008 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609

A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA 94123

Chez Panisse
1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709

Rose Pistola
532 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133-2802

Cugini Restaurant
1556 Solano Ave, Albany, CA

Poggio
777 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965

Piatti
625 Redwood Highway, Mill Valley, CA 94941

Oliveto Cafe
5655 College Ave., Oakland, CA 94618

Tra Vigne Restaurant
1050 Charter Oak, St. Helena, CA 94574

Paradiso Restaurant
685 Bancroft Ave., San Leandro, CA 94577

Marzano
4214 Park Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94602

Tony's Pizza Napoletana
1570 Stockton St, San Francisco, CA 94133

Cucina
510 San Anselmo Ave, San Anselmo, CA 94960

Paradiso Restaurant
17007 Redwood Rd, Castro Valley, CA 94546

Oliveto Restaurant
5655 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618

[arlenemae]

How about the south bay?

[ML8000]

Applewood Pizza
Howie's Artisan Pizza
Willow Street Pizza

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Applewood Inn
1001 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94301

Willow Street Pizza
1554 Saratoga Ave Ste P401, San Jose, CA 95129

Howie's Artisan Pizza
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301

[Shane Greenwood]

Applewood is not South Bay, it is in Menlo Park and they do not have a wood burning oven.

Mayfield Cafe in Palo Alto does have a wood burning oven and they have pizza on the menu, although they are not a pizza place. I have not tried the pizza there but did like the other dishes.

[Shane Greenwood]

Oregano's Wood-Fired Pizza in Los Altos

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Oregano's Wood-Fired Pizza
4546 El, Camino Real Los Altos, CA

[Dave.Pitinga]

We ate at Howie's Artisan Pizza yesterday in the Town and Country Shopping Center in Palo Alto. His oven is not wood-burning, according to the waiter we had. But Howie sure makes some fine pizza. We had two: the one with the Fresno chili, sheared red onion, and house-made pancetta and the one with the broccoli raab/rabe/rapini and house-made fennel sausage. Both were excellently conceived and executed with primo ingredients. The space is cool, too, minimally decorated for the holidays. Much more more SF than Hobee's. We didn't have any wine. But he seems to have a good selection relative to his menu. (La Pizzeria in Campbell has a wood-burning stove: http://www.campbellpizza.com/index.php?page=about_la_pizzeria; but the ingredients don't seem to compare to Howie's. Pizza Antica uses gas like Howie's, to my knowledge: http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-03-19...

)

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Howie's Artisan Pizza
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301

[wally]

Does Boot and Shoe Service have a wood-burning oven?

[Robert Lauriston]

They do, thanks.

[10foot5]

Tried Boot and Shoe service for the first time 2 days ago. Got a Marinara (w/ anchovies) and a Chanterelle, both to go. Superb. Crust was perfectly charred and wonderfully chewy. Seemed like there was a little more salt in the dough than at Pizzaolo. Perfect, to my taste. Might edge out Dopo as my weekly pizza from now on - too soon to say. Tossed green salads were fine, nicely dressed.

I also liked that they have a phone option for takeout only (hit 2). I always feel like I'm asking Dopo for a favor when I request pizza to go. (Don't get me wrong, they are always friendly and courteous, even when they are too busy to field a takeout order.)

[Ruth Lafler]

Doesn't Restaurant B (the Oakland location) have a wood burning oven? What about the mobile ovens at various farmers markets?

[Robert Lauriston]

Oh yeah, how did I forget B?

[Ruth Lafler]

Yeah, how did you? :-) I was wondering if I was wrong, since I know you like the place.