| | Published March 2nd, 2011
| Bonfire Pizzeria Heats Ups Orinda
| | By Rosylyn Aragones Stenzel |  | | Bonfire Pizzeria Owners, Justin Bain, Ryan Mason and Adam Sall along with head chef Robert Huitt offer
Neapolitan style pizza with a California twist. Photo Rosylyn Aragones Stenzel
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Heating up the restaurant scene in Orinda, Bonfire Pizzeria is open for business. Located at Theatre Square, Bonfire Pizzeria takes a different approach to pizza; using only fresh, local, and organic ingredients.
Started by three friends who have a passion for food and a love for pizza, Lafayette residents Adam Sall, Ryan Mason and Justin Bain, are enthusiastic about offering good, simple food to the Lamorinda community in a family-friendly atmosphere.
Everything at Bonfire Pizzeria has been carefully thought out and researched; from the open, inviting space (designed with Don Mackinnon of Bridge City Builders) to every detail on the menu including the special pizza dough which took Mason six months to perfect.
Their pizza is the Neapolitan style in which the dough is made with double zero flour (high protein flour) and takes two days to rise. As Mason explains, this is a method that is rarely used in pizza restaurants in this country. They use a cold fermentation method in which the yeast has time to create more flavor and yield amore flavorful dough. This results in a crispy and chewy crust. The sauce is made from San Marzano tomatoes, and the cheese is from local creameries such as Bellwether Farms, Belfiore and Redwood Hill Farms. They offer five different specialty pizzas, and the option to build your own. The goal was to take the basics of the traditional, Neapolitan style and bridge it with the American palate.
The owners say Bonfire Pizzeria uses local, organic ingredients because that's how they feed their families at home. The salads and all the produce are grown without pesticides, and the salad dressings, such as Ranch and Bleu Cheese, are made from scratch daily. Additionally, the meat is hormone and nitrate free, and the beef is grass fed.
There is no high fructose corn syrup to be found in this restaurant. All the sodas are made from natural ingredients, including a cola with no caffeine and great for the kids to try. Speaking of the kids, there are no linens on the tables for little hands to pull off, the floor is concrete for easy clean up, Etch A Sketches are on hand to keep them entertained, and one of the three TVs always has a children's channel on.
And for the adults, the wine and beer list does not list the usual offerings. The owners, who are also wine enthusiasts, put a great deal of thought into it; with choices, says Mason, "That are affordable, approachable, and unique." "Plus it's got to taste phenomenal," adds Sall.
They chose the name Bonfire because they loved the idea of getting family and friends together, sitting around the bonfire, roasting marshmallows and sharing stories. "Anyone who leaves Bonfire Pizzeria, leaves with a smile on their face. As cheesy or cliche as that may be, the world is tough. It's hard out there. We want you to be able to leave the baggage at the door, come in and get taken care of with people smiling, happy, and having fun," says Mason.
That said, being the foodies that they are, the owners can't stand the thought of anyone eating bad pizza. So they came up with the Bonfire Lamorinda Pizza Guarantee, says Sall and Mason, "If you eat another pizza anywhere in Lamorinda, and you're unhappy with it, bring the uneaten portion of it to Bonfire, and we'll exchange the uneaten portion, same size, on us."Bonfire Pizzeria is located at 2 Orinda Theatre Square, Suite 144 in Orinda. For more information, call 925-253-1225 or online at www.bonfirepizzeria.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA