Wood ovens are on fire

HEALDSBURG — Wood-fired ovens sold by Mugnaini, Inc., are known in North American culinary circles for baking gourmet pizza, but increasingly, restaurants and would-be home chefs are thinking outside the pizza box on more uses for the even-heating hearths.

And demand for oven-cooking classes closer to the heart of California's wine and food culture has prompted the Watsonville-based assembler and distributor to relocate from the Monterey County coast to a 15,000-square-foot assembly plant and showroom under construction in Healdsburg.

'As our business has grown to have more direct contact with clients pre- and postsale, we found we need to be in the community where people travel,' said Andrea Mugnaini, founder and owner. 'People do not want to travel to Wine Country then to Watsonville.'

So the two-decade-old business is set to consolidate the 10,000-square-foot assembly plant, headquarters and showroom in Watsonville and a demonstration kitchen in a renovated barn her 30-acre vineyard estate in Sonoma County's Alexander Valley winegrowing area. The new assembly plant, warehouse, retail showroom and teaching kitchen, located at 1530 Grove St. in Healdsburg, is set to be completed in May.

Ms. Mugnaini started the company 25 years ago to import oven components from manufacturer Refrattari Valoriani, located near Florence, Italy. But it took some convincing of the Valoriani family, which has been making wood cooking ovens since 1890, to give her a chance.

'It was an uphill battle back then, because no one thought Americans would cook like that — cooking with wood in the home,' Ms. Mugnaini said.

She quickly sold the first 10 ovens allocated to her then shifted from selling wine in Europe to wood ovens in North America, under an exclusive distributorship.

Cooking classes started in Watsonville in 1998, as homeowners with the high-end hearths wanted to know how to use them — and even how to cook at all. In 2007, she installed six ovens at her Alexander Valley property for one- and three-day classes.

Three dozen classes are planned next year as the new facility opens.

Mugnaini imports the oven components from Italy then assembles them into several configurations for residential and commercial uses. Key elements of the modular design are the dome-like 'crown' and floor, made from Tuscan refractory clay compressed under 8,000 pounds of force and fired at 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The chimney is designed to greatly limit the smell of smoke and comply with emissions requirements.

Residential ovens have firebrick floors 1.75 inches thick to balance the heating characteristics of the 2.25-inch-thick dome made from solid and aggregate fired clay. Commercial models, developed when pizzerias became popular in the 1970s, have 2.25-inch floors and 3.25-inch thickness in the dome.

The ovens range in price based on finishes and size. Kits retail for $2,500–$4,900, while factory-assembled ovens can cost $5,500–$10,000.

Among the hundreds of commercial ovens Mugnaini has assembled and sold in North America are dozens at North Bay restaurants and wineries, such as Hotel Healdsburg Café and Silver Oak Cellars.

Ca' Momi Enoteca purchased a Mugnaini oven three and a half years ago when it opened in Napa's Oxbow Public Market. It is among nearly two dozen U.S. Neapolitan pizzaiolis (pizza-makers) certified by the Verace Pizza Napoletana association, established by the Italian government in 1984 as a 'denomination of control' for how the pizza is made. One of the specifications is that the pies be baked in a wood-fire oven for 60–90 seconds on a 905 degree Fahrenheit cooking surface.

'It is very easy to use and reliable, and management of temperature is very easy,' said Dario De Conti, CEO. 'We cook our porchetta and veggies in it but most use it for pizzas.'

Ca' Momi also has a mobile version of the oven to bake pizzas on location.

Mugnaini (831-761-1767, mugnaini.com) employs 10 now. Several workers likely will move with the business to Sonoma County, but some more employees will be needed, Ms. Mugnaini said.

She bought the Healdsburg land in September 2013. Local general contractor Eddinger Enterprises started building the facility in July.

This story was originally published Dec. 1, 2014.