Although not Italian, Jonathan Cowan, owner/founder of Wooden Paddle, has dedicated his career to artisan pizza.
When the carryout restaurant opened in 2013, the pizza-centric menu consisted of artisan pies cooked in a stone conveyor oven at high temperatures.
A year after opening, Cowan was introduced to the Marra Forni team at the Vegas Pizza Expo.
At the National Restaurant Association Show, the couple brought 500 pizzas to bake in Marra Forni’s rotating deck oven. This was the first time the pizzas were baked using the wood and gas combination.
“We didn’t know it was possible,” Cowan says. “We were supremely impressed with the quality.”
Wooden Paddle employees set up a catering event with their Marra Forni oven as the centerpiece.
Marra Forni’s Original Brick Neapolitan pizza ovens offer a variety of sizes and custom configurations, including free-standing and mobile solutions. The ovens feature a stationary cooking deck and produce a high volume of artisan pizzas. In addition to wood-fired, the oven comes in electric and gas versions.
Cowan switched to Marra Forni. The carryout location closed, and a sit-down restaurant opened.
Culinary director and chef Patrick Cassata, winner of Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen and a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, was able to expand the menu. Because catering is a big part of the business, Cowan incorporated Marra Forni’s mobile Neapolitan oven.
When Wooden Paddle expanded its business, it added both a Marra Forni “Rotator” rotating deck oven and its Neapolitan static oven.
“Marra Forni ovens have been solid performers,” Cowan says. “We haven’t had to deal with floors and surfaces cracking, and the mobile ovens have weathered catering.”
Cowan adds that the attention and assistance of Marra Forni and co-founder and CEO Francesco Marra have been invaluable. “Francesco has been so kind and answers questions; he treats us like family, which meant a lot to me as a young entrepreneur,” Cowan says.