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Archive for December, 2009

Thanksgiving Tradition at Wood Stone

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

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In the Fall of the 2002, a Wood Stone employee, David Morgan, had an excellent thought, ““I wonder what a turkey would taste like cooked in one of our wonderful ovens?” David brought the idea to Wood Stone chef, Frank Milward and volunteered to bring in a turkey if he would cook it up and they could share with the rest of the staff. David suggested that the “mini feast” take place on the work day before the Thanksgiving holiday and that everyone bring a dish to share. A tradition was born!

The following year David brought another turkey and Wood Stone pitched in a turkey as well and the side dish contribution grew. The third year, Wood Stone pitched in three turkeys and Dan Johns and David went to work on making 15lbs of mashed potatoes to go with the heavenly gravy and stuffing that Chefs Frank and Tim created. Well, year by year, the Wood Stone Thanksgiving lunch has grown until this year (2009) Wood Stone cooked up 8 turkeys and 50 lbs of fluffy, mashed, garlic potatoes. The chefs prepared two huge pans of their world class stuffing and enough ‘secret recipe’ gravy to float a boat. In addition, beautiful green bean casseroles, squash, yams, corn, salads, cranberry sauce, pickles and more rounded out the feast. For those with room for more there were pies, cheesecakes, cookies and other amazing treats for dessert.

The Wood Stone staff loves this tradition and hope it lives on for years to come. Thank you Wood Stone!

Wood Stone Hits the Bowling Alley

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

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Wood Stone’s annual family bowling night took place on Tuesday evening, December 15th. Employees and their families came out to attend the event at Park Bowl. A BIG thank you to Wood Stone and those who made the event possible, it was fun!

Tutta Bella Serves up Lunch at Wood Stone

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

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On December 7, Wood Stone was honored to host Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria in our test kitchen. Tutta Bella is one of our customers in the Northwest and was recently recognized as one of five Hot Concepts by Nations Restaurant News.

It simply is not easy being one of the best, fastest growing Neapolitan concepts in the world. We worked with Tutta Bella so they could bake their Vera Pizza Napoletana for those attending the Dallas TX Hot Concepts award presentation. In return, without expectation Tutta Bella’s key folks, founder, partner, chefs and managers visited Wood Stone to bring their Neapolitan delicacy to the entire staff at Wood Stone – quite a treat!

“As a friend of great Artisan Napoletana Pizza and Tutta Bella – we love their pizza – it is a traditional masterpiece– if we happen to have the opportunity to invite you to Tutta Bella we suggest that you not only enjoy the pizza but that you pay special attention to their culture – it is obvious that they are well educated and very happy to be doing what they are doing. They are part of something special!” – Wood Stone Corporate Chef, Frank Milward

Wood-fired pizzeria accuses Brixx of ‘false advertising’

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

We found this article very interesting as Brixx Wood Fired Pizza is a Wood Stone Customer. We have been discussing it internally and thought we would give others the opportunity to weigh in. We would love to hear from you, leave a comment.

Pizzamarketplace.com

14 Dec 2009

Knoxville wood-fired pizzeria Hard Knox is going after Charlotte, N.C.-based Brixx pizzeria for what it calls false advertising that hurts Knox’s business, according to Knoxvillebiz.com.

Hard Knox has filed a cease and desist order for the rival pizzeria to stop calling its pizzas “wood fired” in advertisements. Lawyer Michael McSunas issued a complaint in late October, saying the Knoxville Brixx uses gas burners to cook its pizza, giving potential Hard Knox customers the wrong idea about how wood fired pizza tastes.

From Knoxvillebiz:
‘Hard Knox does in fact use wood-fired ovens to cook its pizzas,’ McSunas said. ‘Pizzas made from wood-fired ovens differ in flavor and taste than those made from gas-fired pizza (ovens) due to the maximum achievable temperature in each oven. By falsely claiming that Brixx is using wood-fired ovens to cook its pizzas, Brixx is damaging Hard Knox’s business and good will, and confusing consumers into thinking that there is no difference in the manner in which Brixx and Hard Knox cook their respective pizzas,’ the Hard Knox letter continued.

In a statement, Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Managing Partner Jeff Van Dyke said, ‘Brixx Wood Fired Pizza uses a wood-burning oven, which is ignited and temperature-controlled by gas. The wood gives our pizza its great taste, while the gas maintains a consistent temperature.’

“This kind of cooking has chefs fired up” – SF Gate

Friday, December 11th, 2009

This is a wonderful article highlighting the joys of artisan wood-fired cooking. Highlighted in the article is the fact that although these ovens are known for GREAT pizza, chefs are discovering the incredible effects that this method of cooking has on other menu items.

Click here to read article.

Wood Stone is proud to have an installation at one of the restaurants mentioned in the article, Poggio in Sausalito, CA.

New Seattle Wood Stone Installation – Cicchetti Kitchen and Bar

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

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It’s always exciting to read about new Wood Stone restaurants opening in the neighborhood. Cicchetti is located just down the freeway from Wood Stone in Seattle’s Eastlake district. This article from the Seattle Times (link below) highlights Chicchetti’s Wood Stone oven and also captures video of the oven being moved into place. Very exciting. We are all looking forward to dining at Cicchetti Kitchen and Bar!

Read Full Article and View Video