BchrisL
Senior Cook
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A few years ago, I was meeting with an associate in the pizza business and I asked him how he got started in the pizza business. He began to tell me the story of a home he owned in Up-State New York, and how he loved the pizza in that area. His favorite restaurants used either a coal-burning or a wood-fired oven. This gave him an idea.
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This is not that much different from the "Open Pit" resturants I remember as a kid down the the Petersburg VA area (Kings BBQ) or in the Richmond VA area (Allman's BBQ ) or "The Farmhouse". There was always a open fireplace where the Q was lying on a steel grate at countertop level with a metal sheet blocking the fire that was at floor level. A couple cooked shoulders were pushed to the back, except for the one shoulder that was currently being cut up and served. The cook would cut off a piece and then transher it to a chopping block where it would be chopped with a clever and blended with sauce before it was served.