Restaurant owner will cook pizza in oven like his grandmother used

A partner in the soon to be opened A Pizza Story, Muhammad Alhawagri, was constructing his oven his week.

He grew up in Egypt and has memories of his grandmother cooking with a similar, wood-fired, oven.

“The most delicious breads came from there,” Alhawagri said. “The kind of wood makes a difference, the humidity in the wood makes a difference, the fire coming from everywhere in a certain way.”

Did he personally use it? “Not much,” he said. Alhawagri has traveled to Italy to learn about Italian foods and wood-fired ovens to prepare for opening the Maplewood restaurant.

His oven will be cured for up to two weeks, slowly bringing it up to the maximum temperature of around 800 degrees. He said he’ll start with a candle.

“Curing it slowly is really important because it maintains the integrity of the refractory dome,” Alhawagri said.

Ovens like his are made of different materials all over the world, such as adobe. Alhawagri’s is made of motor and brick and double-insulated, then covered with stucco.

A Pizza Story will be at 7278 Manchester Road, when it opens probably sometime in February.