Another review just hit with lots of photographs. This time it was written by Andy Huse of Metromix:
http://tampabay.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/lunch-review-wood-fired/1486368/contentThe Slice,
Looking forward to seeing you again. Wood Fired just received its beer and wine license so things have spiced up quite a bit. Folks are enjoying ambiance and killer pies at the same time. To celebrate, we have scheduled our grand opening for next Wednesday and Thursday night. Live entertainment, giveaways, etc.
pacoast,
Interesting question about Wood Fired's dough. Without trying to boast, I can't think of a single thing I have changed on a percentage basis. The dough performed flawlessly at home and was optimized to the best of my ability. It has now demonstrably proven itself commercially. Folks are raving about the crust because it is passionately made with the exact same level of detail and care as when I used to make it at home.
While the dough hasn't changed, I certainly have and for the better I believe. I am now much more balanced in my approach to pizza making and enjoy collaborating with local chefs on exciting topping combinations. The Pizza Lydia is a prominent example of this. Lydia Caldwell, a local Tampa chef, is a huge supporter of Wood Fired. One day she asked if it was okay to add garlic to her Bianca pizza (like she needs my permission!). I replied "why of course."
But knowing she was a chef of some notoriety, I decided to lean against her thinking a little bit and suggested that we should also add sauteed spinach too (garlic and spinach being one of my favorite topping combinations). She then pinged back that if we were to add spinach, we would have to add thinly sliced tomato (wagon wheels). I then suggested to place the ricotta on top of the wagon wheels with the fresh mozzarella lying between them and steadfastly suggested we would have to have caramelized onions to finish the flavor palette. She then suggested we immediately throw that puppy in the venerable Raquel pizza specific oven and that is how the Pizza Lydia was born. The Pizza Lydia is an outright winner. Vegetarians can't order it fast enough and I can't believe how flavorful it is. It also looks beautiful.
