What is a wood-fired pizza oven doing in this Fresno food truck?

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A Fresno cook has recovered a mode to marque authentic Neapolitan pizza with a existent wood oven - wrong a nutrient truck.

23-year-old Christian Tufenkjian is the proprietor of Nuovo Wood Fired Pizza. For the past year, helium has been making wood-fired pizzas successful a trailer - and surviving retired his imagination successful the process.

"I was benignant of battling these 2 things," Tufenkjian said. "[I thought] I tin enactment a batch of clip into trying to get into dental schoolhouse oregon benignant of spot this accidental implicit here."

Before making up his caput to prosecute pizzas, Tufenkjian says helium was conscionable a feline with immoderate escaped time, immoderate bricks, and an idea. His communicative began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"A person of excavation [was] tearing down their fireplace," Tufenkjian said. "It's a ceramic fireplace and they've each these bricks."

Tufenkjian says helium remembers seeing the reddish bricks he'd typically seen successful fireplaces - but besides chiseled yellowish bricks.

"I'm like, 'what are these for?'" Tufenkjian said. "He's like, 'Oh, these are occurrence bricks that tin withstand precocious heat.'"

Tufenkjian says astatine that infinitesimal the gears successful his caput started turning, "Maybe I'll physique a fireplace successful my backyard."

As helium researched gathering a backyard fireplace, Tufenkjian says helium recovered different radical moving connected passionateness projects during the pandemic - and that immoderate radical were gathering woodfired ovens too.

"I was like, ohio my gosh, similar that pizza that I've had for [years] that I've enjoyed," Tufenkjian said. "I tin conscionable person that successful my backyard now."

Tufenkjian says portion helium was researching what helium could bash with the bricks and however a woodfire oven could hypothetically beryllium built successful a backyard helium ended up astatine his section Lowe's.

"I was into hardware and stuff," Tufenkjian said. "But past I was lasting successful enactment 1 time and I spot a feline with occurrence bricks."

Tufenkjian says helium started a speech with the antheral and discovered that the lawsuit successful enactment adjacent to him was besides gathering a woodfire oven.

"I conscionable this feline and, and we're talking," Tufenkjian said. "He's an older man called Bruce, and helium helped maine truthful overmuch astatine the beginning."

Tufenkjian says Bruce turned retired to beryllium a adjacent neighbour who and an experienced mason who offered to mentor him. With Bruce's assistance and his parents' approval, Tufenkjian was capable to physique his archetypal woodfire oven and spell connected to cooking the pizza helium had longed for.

Tufenkjian says his fascination with woodfire pizza specifically came astatine a young age, erstwhile helium archetypal tried it astatine Pismo Beach.

"It indispensable person been erstwhile I was 11 oregon 12," Tufenkjian said. "But that's however impactful it was. I inactive retrieve it. I don't deliberation I was ever similar truly a instrumentality of pizza."

Fan oregon not, Tufenkjian says helium dedicated himself to his caller recovered trade of cooking pizza similar a antheral "obsessed."

"I person a inheritance successful biology and science. So [my approach] was precise technological method," Tufenkjian said. "Documenting, journaling similar the dough and conscionable getting a grasp for each these antithetic elements."

Tufenkjian says aft capable time, helium had yet made a merchandise helium was consistently blessed with and comfy selling. So helium bought a motortruck and went to enactment establishing himself arsenic nutrient vendor.

"I assembled everything inside, got it passed wellness inspection," Tufenkjian said. "We built [the oven] extracurricular and past forklifted it in."

Now, Tufenkjian has been serving up slices for a twelvemonth with the wood-fired oven wrong the nutrient truck. He says he's conscionable getting started.

"When I archetypal started my extremity was not to unfastened a nutrient truck. My extremity was to unfastened a restaurant," Tufenkjian said. "I don't deliberation Nuovo has reached similar 25% of its potential."