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"It'sa human way to cook. It's alive and interactive — and a very sensuous way of cooking. It's a flavor you can't get in a conventio- nal oven." —Andrea Mugnaini KARLMONDON—BAYAREANEWSGROUP Angelo Womack pulls a pizza out of the copper penny-covered wood oven at Oak & Rye Pizza in Los Gatos in February. Forgedbyfire MUGNAINI WOOD-FIRED OVENS Mugnaini (pronounced Moon-ya-ee-nee) may not be a famous name, but her Watsonville-based factory produces the wood-fired ovens used in top restau- rants, wineries and homes all over the nation and her client list reads like a Who's Who of the culinary world. Emeril Lagasse has one of the ovens in his Florida home. And Mugnaini ov- ens are used at such award- winning restaurants as Los Angeles' Mozza, Berkeley's Chez Panisse, San Fran- cisco's Flour + Water and scores more. The seeds were sown during visits to see her mother's family in Lucca, Italy, where Mugnaini first learned to use a wood-burn- ing oven. Eventually, she imported one for her own use. "It's a human way to cook," she says. "It's alive and interactive — and a very sensuous way of cooking. The higher temperatures allow for richer caramel- ization and that speckled char should be considered seasoning. It's a flavor you can't get in a conventional oven." In 1989, Mugnaini, who has a home in Aptos, part- nered with Valoriani, an Italian oven maker, who made the oven floors and crowns that could be fin- ished in the Watsonville fac- tory, either as free-standing ovens or kits for clients who want to build their own. Her original clients were homeowners — residential ovens still account for about 60 percent of sales — but restaurants began to take notice, starting with Chez Panisse. So when Angelo Wom- ack moved to California last year to open Los Gatos' Oak & Rye restaurant with chef Ross Hanson, he knew he wanted a Mugnaini oven. As a pizzaiolo at Roberta's, the popular Brooklyn spot, he also did consulting work for another pizza place that had one. "It cooked pies fantas- tically," Womack says. "I knew then it was my favor- ite oven." The oven's versatility is a big selling point, be- cause Hanson, who makes the non-pizza items on the menu, can use it to make the restaurant's outstand- ing meatballs, pretzels and juicy chicken. The beyond-pizza poten- tial is what Mugnaini em- phasizes at the cooking classes she offers at both the Watsonville facility and her stunning vineyard property in Healdsburg. Mugnaini laughs. "The only thing we don't do in them," she says, "is gelato." On a recent spring eve- ning, eight couples from around the country — in- cluding the owner of a cook- ing school in Kennebunk- port, Maine — descended on the renovated Healds- burg farmhouse that's home to six different ovens for a three-day class. Mugnaini enlisted Louis Maldonado, a recent "Top Chef" contestant and chef at Healdsburg's Spoonbar and Pizzando, to cook the opening-night dinner. Mal- donado, who Mugnaini calls "fearless" with the oven, prepared everything for the evening's meal — from the chicken crack- lings to the cultured crème fraîche served with roasted asparagus and branzino — in her ovens. Over the following two days, Mugnaini showed the class how to build and manage the fire, reciting her mantra, "the bed of coals is your best friend," while adeptly moving be- tween indoor and outdoor ovens, roasting peppers in one and baking no fewer than eight loaves of bread in another. The class enjoyed feast after feast from the fur- nace — from cinnamon rolls that greeted them the first morning to empana- das and paella they made themselves. One of the most striking dishes was roast chicken with Meyer lemon and fennel that seemed the epitome of Mediterranean hearth cooking, with an aroma that permeated Mug- naini's patio, sending tum- mies — already full from a lunch of pizza — rumbling once again. By Jennifer Graue Bay Area News Group WATSONVILLE » She's the woman behind some of the best pizzas in the Bay Area and beyond, but you'd never know it. Andrea Mugnaini's name is not over the door or on the menu — but her burning presence is always there. MUGNAINI Chef Louis Maldonado, right, with Andrea Mugnaini, took part in the opening- night dinner at Mugnaini's 3-Day Culinary Getaway earlier this year. Wood-fired ovens are great for more than pizza, and some of world's best — and most coveted — are made in Watsonville Brothers Andrew Cohen, le , and Ari Cohen are the masterminds behind the healthy, dairy-free, gluten-free cashew nut milk ice cream that's getting rave reviews. By Ellen Mccarthy The Washington Post WASHINGTON The swelling ranks of Americans adopting glu- ten-free diets have given rise to another hot trend: people calling the whole thing a bunch of balo- ney. And then requesting that the baloney be sandwiched between two pieces of white bread. Served with a cookie for dessert. David Klimas has a friend who recently went gluten-free, a devel- opment that the 46-year-old real estate sales manager in Alexan- dria, Va., greets with a slow eye roll. He thinks that the gluten-free thing is just a fad, promoted by food companies "as a way of mak- ing money." "In the '50s, everyone had ul- cers," he says. "Then, it was back problems. Now, it's gluten." Gluten abstinence has grown dramatically over the past sev- eral years. According to a sur- vey by the NPD Group, a market- research firm, nearly a third of adults say that they're trying to either eliminate or cut back on gluten, a combination of proteins found in wheat and other grains. And this movement has spawned a burgeoning food industry val- ued at at least $4 billion and per- haps more than $10 billion — and climbing. Entire aisles at grocery stores are dedicated to the diet. Restau- rant chains including Bob Evans, Hooters and Uno Pizzeria and Grill, offer gluten-free menus. Trade shows devoted to gluten- free products have popped up na- tionwide. Bars use menu icons to denote gluten-free beers. All of which makes some peo- ple want to bang their heads against a flour mill. "I don't get it," Klimas says of his friend's decision to cut gluten from his diet. "How can you all of a sudden be gluten-free? He's 45. . . . Sometimes, I think it's just for him to be cool in front of the waiters." About 1 percent of the Amer- ican population suffers from ce- liac disease, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. This is a confound- ing affliction in which gluten consumption causes damage to the small intestine and interferes with the body's ability to absorb vitamins. Other people are sensi- tive to gluten and have negative reactions to consuming it but don't have celiac disease. People who have celiac disease are often misdiagnosed before the cause of their health issues — which can include digestive prob- lems, rashes, fatigue, headaches and joint pain — is pinpointed. The only treatment for the dis- ease is to give up gluten. There has been a concerted ef- fort to raise awareness of celiac disease, so that those living with- out a proper diagnosis can see an end to their suffering. But some people believe that the push has caused new gluten-free converts to believe that they have a disease they don't have. The gluten-free backlash reached an apex last month, when comedian Jimmy Kimmel remarked on his late-night show that in Los Angeles, gluten was "comparable to Satanism," and sent a film crew to ask gluten-free dieters whether they knew what gluten was. (Most didn't.) Talk- show host Chelsea Handler and a disgruntled Charlize Theron de- constructed the issue on-air af- ter Handler sent gluten-free cup- cakes to her friends, including Theron, for the winter holidays. "I just think that if you're going to send a gift, let it be enjoyable," fumed Theron, who said that the confection tasted "like card- board." HEALTHY FOODS The ba ck la sh against gl ut en -f re e Deli-TastyBurgers-Wraps NewTo-GoSection Thursday,Friday&Saturday Lunch&DinnerBuffet Happy Hour with Cocktails, Food & Entertainment Saigon Bistro 723 Walnut St. Red Bluff 528-9670 MongolianBBQ Mongolian BBQ K K ahunas ahunas AmericanStyle It's all about the choices! 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