Joseph D’s Modern Mediterranean Garden and Pizza Palace

“The inspirations for my outdoor oven include reading about the art of wood fired cooking, countless fond memories of trips to Italy, and of course my favorite food group, PIZZA! My wife and I love the Italian countryside, so I designed and created a backyard cooking area that evokes memories of a modern Mediterranean Tuscan garden with outdoor family-style dining. I designed and built the Casa110 44 inch wood fired oven myself over several months with the goal to create something personal, artistic, and unique.

The oven contains a mixture of natural and modern elements, and was incorporated into a covered cedar pergola which serves as a protected prep and cooking area, as well as a wonderful serving station and bar. I created a California Gold slate ledger facade around the oven, with a slanted tin roof that matches the one over the adjacent pergola. I added a dark-stained cedar wood overlay to the concrete and block oven base to tie into the front of the pergola and surrounding fencing, as well as to offset and soften the stonework. The build also included dual front and back openings in the base to facilitate the loading, storage, and use of firewood without having to always enter the front enclosed cooking area. My personal “pièce de résistance” is the hand-cut superimposed Montauk black slate voussoir arch that matches the chimney, landing area, and base accents.

I love the overall quality of the Casa2G wood fired modular oven components which made assembly easy. However, though the form of the Forno Bravo oven is great, the function is simply phenomenal! The oven heats up fast and holds heat for days allowing for the cooking and baking of many delectable items beyond the perfect pizza it makes! I also appreciate that they precut my oven floor upon request to facilitate the easy addition of a gas burner in the future if desired.

We are blessed year-round with Mediterranean -style weather in Southern California, and our Tuscan-inspired outdoor wood fired oven pavilion gives us the perfect excuse to entertain friends and family daily!

Grazie Forno Bravo!”

Owner: Joseph D

 Oven: Casa110

Location: San Diego (Ramona), California