Paul’s Story

My father, Orazio Prestifilippo, grew up in Rome. As a young man, he planted olive trees on family land just south of Rome. Relatives tended these trees after Orazio moved to the United States. As a child, we visited my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins almost every summer. I enjoyed visiting the grove of olive trees my father had planted and tasting the olive oil that was pressed from their olives. I loved eating outdoors with the family, especially when my cousins made pizza in the wood-fired oven in the backyard. I watched as my Nonna made tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes on the outdoor stove and saw relatives cooking with the freshest ingredients. 

While growing up, family meals were a mainstay. My father came home from work to eat a homemade meal for lunch and dinner every day and it was expected that every family member was home for dinner, too. Saturday was pizza day - my favorite!

As I grew older, I tried pizza everywhere I went.  When I went to college in Brooklyn, New York, I was in heaven visiting pizzerias throughout the borough. A few years later, married with kids, I took my family to Italy to visit my relatives. We went from Florence to Rome to Naples seeing the sights and sampling pizzas.  All of the pizzas were delicious, but I really favored the Neapolitan style pizza that originated in Naples. 

After fifteen years of making homemade pizza in my home oven, my family bought me a backyard wood-fired oven. I was really bitten by the pizza bug! I wanted to go beyond slinging pizzas for my circle of family and friends and considered opening a pizza restaurant, but COVID made me reevaluate that plan. I decided it would be safer to take my pizza to people to enjoy in a safe, socially-distanced way. I love the taste of a wood-fired pizza and decided that a Forno Bravo pizza oven was the only way to go. Our 20-foot Fire Within trailer houses an oven with a 48-inch interior diameter that cooks the pizza at nearly 900 degrees within a few minutes. I have remembered the lessons I learned as a child about using fresh ingredients. We make our own dough and use the freshest ingredients to bring you a Neapolitan-inspired 11-inch pizza.

I want to grow that circle of family and friends to include you!

Check out our social media to see when we are bringing pizza to your neighborhood.