what is biga wood fired pizzeria?

Our specialty is the authentic Naples Style Pie prepared and cooked just as it was 168 years ago in a wood fired hearth oven at over 900° F. Our mission is to provide our guests authentic Napoletana pizza, house made seasonal tasting dishes, fresh salads and unique desserts using only the finest fresh ingredients, cooked using time honored traditions and served in a warm inviting atmosphere.

what does biga mean?

Biga (pronounced bee-gah) is Italian for a “dough starter”.
Italian breads and baked goods are world renowned because of their use of a biga. A biga or Starter is a living thing, made from flour, water and naturally occurring wild yeast, and must be fed on a regular basis to stay alive. It feeds on flour and requires water or it will die. The older the starter gets, the more flavor it imparts into the dough. The biga also takes on characteristics from the wild yeast in the air in the region it lives. Our starter is 12 years old and has a distinct flavor of North East Ohio because of the wild yeasts in the air found only in this area much like San Francisco sour dough is unique to that area and can’t be duplicated in other parts of the country. Our biga is what gives our dough its unique flavor and characteristic.

what is naples style pizza?

Naples Italy is considered the birthplace of this style pizza dating back to 1839. This Style Pizza (Napoletana) is as much a method of rich tradition as it is a food. It is an art blending the heritage of dough making, the complexity of fire management and craft of maintaining fresh ingredients. This combination produces a thin crust pie that is crispy on top and bottom while chewy in the center, powerfully aromatic, rich in flavor and full of character. The pie will have slight blackening on the cornicione (outer rim of the crust) and the bottom. The cornicione (pronounced corn-each-E-O-nay) color is from the flame “kissing” the top, while the bottom color is from the potassium rich wood ash adding flavor.

how will this be achieved?

First, keep things simple. Keeping the integrity of simple allows the unique flavors of truly fresh ingredients to maximize the entire dish. Our ingredients are not intended to “hide” anything, but rather to exploit their own distinct flavors, which is quite contrary to much of the food prepared today. Following we have listed these basic ingredients and how each participates:

Herbs – Our Herbs are grown both on premise and by locally owned farms to provide rich flavor that only a “just picked” herb can.

Dough – Our 12 year old vintage biga dough provides the foundation of flavor for all the pizza dough and breads, which are made daily. This starter is living, growing dough that we feed everyday with flour and water. Much like a fine wine or cheese, as it grows older it acquires more and more flavor; it is a process that cannot be rushed. All our dough and bread recipes begin by adding a portion of this starter.

Wood Fired Oven – The wood fired oven infuses the food with flavors of Oak, Cherry and Apple wood smoke at over 900° F. This oven bakes each pizza in 90 seconds and is capable of baking eight pizzas at a time.

Tomatoes – One of the things that make Napoletana pizzas the best in Italy is the Tomato. For generations they have used tomatoes only from the San Marzano region of Italy. We have taken the same approach and sourced out the best tomato America has to offer.

Sea Salt – We use only all natural, course ground, pure iodine free sea salt from the Mediterranean Sea, which provides a great flavor and a little bit of crunch.

Flour– We use flour made from hard wheat, some of which is grown here in Ohio. This flour helps give the dough a smooth creamy texture when mixing and great flavor after the bake.

Olive Oil – Extra Virgin Cold Pressed Italian Olive Oil gives depth to the pizza and intensifies the sauce.

Cheese – Only fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta and ParmigianoReggiano cheeses are used. We make our fresh mozzarella and ricotta in house. There is no match to true Parmigiano Reggiano and it is one of the few items we import.

Water – Double and triple filtered water is used in our recipes to provide a clean, pure transportation of flavor.

Wood– We burn Oak, Hickory, Cherry and Apple woods that are locally harvested. All wood must be seasoned for at least 10 months, while most is over 12 months. Wood management is extremely important in order to achieve the proper balance between floor heat and dome heat in the oven. Coaling attributes of the wood heats the floor of the oven and the flame attributes heats the dome of the oven. Each plays a critical role in balanced food preparation.

Fire– The fire itself is more than just a means to cook. For centuries fire has served as a focal point of gatherings. Whether the source of energy was to provide warmth, comfort, conversation, or food, it brought people together. Just like beach fires we enjoy today, it is a reason to come together and celebrate family, friends and our slice of paradise along the lake.

so what does all this mean?

We are passionate about bringing a unique, authentic gathering place to the community focused on providing powerful, rich foods, born from simple, fresh ingredients. We want a gathering place for families and their friends – a place to meet and relax, enjoy one another's company while experiencing Authentic Wood Fired Pizza.