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posted November 2, 2005
Artscape Artists' Co-op bake-oven starts baking
Last February there was a fund-raiser Friday Night Supper at the rink house, for Gene Threndyle's Artscape Artists' Co-op bake-oven at Queen and Crawford. We raised $320, and Gene put that together with other funds and built an oven out in their yard. Their first pizza fire [October 22, 2005] was in the pouring rain, but well-attended. Here's Gene's account of the first fire:
In spite of Hurricane Wilma or who ever that constant rain was that only let up for a couple hours around midnight, we went ahead with our inaugural pizza night at 900 Queen West. We had been up late most nights that week trying to get the chimney finished so that we could do basic baking. It turns out that we do need insulation on top of the oven to do bread and I think we need more soft wood for our firing to get a quick hot heat. For pizza though, so far so good.
By 8pm a few hardcore souls were showing up and we had tables set up on the porch under the building's front canopy and we used the lobby as well. Another lesson learned from Dufferin Grove, use what ya got. There were about 12 people when the first pizza came out and that incredible cheese from the organic market was a huge hit. Dionisio who had run a take-out pizza place on Airport Road when he was 15 took over putting them together.
By the third pizza Bruno and Susan decided that we had to take one over to Marcello at Bar One because they had given us the dough. Bruno took off down the street running with a pizza on the bread peel straight through the bar and back to the kitchen where he demanded the staff all taste the pizza he'd baked.
Marcello seemed almost as amused as the rest of the staff but very thoughtfully ate our offering before passing judgement. "That tastes like my uncle's pizza in Italy" he said and we roared our approval.
When finally the rain let a little someone decided to light a small fire in our wet gravel courtyard. Well it wouldn't be an official outdoor oven inauguration without the fire department and within the hour they arrived sirens wailing.
They walked around our soggy, gravelly garden and decided that there was little danger of the fire spreading. A legal fire though in Toronto has to have a grill over it and be being used for the preparation of food. We showed the guys our oven and they seemed a bit impressed and left advising us to keep the fire only for the preparation of food or put it out.
Luckily Jungle Ling had made these superb grills from salvaged metal from the spit complete with wooden handles. We had intended to grill on them except for the rain. We revised our plan so that we could keep the fire going and we had some food grilling on them by the time the firefighters returned.
It seems that one tenant in our building who wished to remain anonymous and who did not wish to talk to the fire chief had again phoned 911 again about our fire. They did try to contact her and tell here that not only was there no danger but we were preparing food. They had just gotten back into their truck when once again Bruno took off into the night with a pizza on a peel for all the guys in the truck. Again we got praise all round.
So inspite of the cold and the damp and one unfriendly neighbour another offspring of the Dufferin Grove Oven has been inaugurated down on 900 Queen Street West. We can see that there are problems that we will have to address as we finish it but we are looking forward to many more opportunities to make food, it's preparation and eating in our garden a focal point of our neighbourhood.
Gene
