{"id":41217,"date":"2022-11-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=41217"},"modified":"2022-11-03T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T10:00:00","slug":"fired-up-takes-wood-fired-pizza-on-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2022\/11\/03\/fired-up-takes-wood-fired-pizza-on-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Fired Up takes wood-fired pizza on the road"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ken Cleveland <\/b>
\n Landmark Correspondent<\/i><\/div>\n

RUTLAND – \u201cI was always a fan of good food,\u201d A1 Maykel said.<\/p>\n

With a quarter century of experience in the food industry, he is showcasing that expertise in a mobile pizza business, Fired Up, which features a traditional Di Fiore oven from Italy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents were pioneers of the natural and organic industry, and we always ate well, as my mother is a phenomenal cook,\u201d Maykel said. \u201cYou could always find me in the kitchen watching her make a countless variety of meals for us to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

His journey to operating Fired Up started in Worcester, where he was born, and then shifted to West Boylston, where he spent his early years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe moved to Rutland when I was in elementary school. I spent three years at Naquag and ended up at St. John\u2019s for high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Johnson and Wales in 2005, Maykel and his wife moved to Rutland, where they have lived ever since.<\/p>\n

His first job was washing dishes at Tatnuck Country Club, and he never left the food industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked my way all the way up from dishwashing to operating my own restaurant, EVO Dining, in Worcester,\u201d said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was mostly an on the job learner,\u201d Maykel said of his early training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a little something from every job I had and from some great chefs along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Johnson and Wales, he said, he learned from more talented chefs and instructors.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut knowledge came from more than just the chefs. You learn from everyone in this industry \u2014 dishwashers all the way up to general managers. I am very fortunate to have worked with so many great people over the years,\u201d Maykel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff would have to be the best part of the culinary world,\u201d he said, describing the industry in which he grew up. \u201cPeople with such passion and great personalities. Long hours, stressful environments \u2014 these people become like family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years, he has had some highlights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two favorites when it comes to culinary experiences: Winning the 2013 Worcester\u2019s Best Chef Competition and competing in the World Food Championships with some of the greatest chefs in the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As far as his favorite food?<\/p>\n

\u201cGonna go with pizza as my favorite food,\u201d he said. \u201cLimitless possibilities and could literally eat it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

His mobile pizza truck comes complete with a wood-fired oven.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperating a wood-fired pizza trailer has its challenges, but overall, it is a joy. Wood and time is everything. Good, dry, small split, seasoned hardwood is a must.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we built our home in Rutland, I kept all the hardwood from when our lot was cleared. I cut, split and stack all the wood we use myself. It\u2019s a great way to exercise and spend some time outdoors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike a gas or electric option, \u201ccooking with wood requires planning. Our oven takes about four to five hours to get to temperature from dead cold. However, if you have run it the night before, it retains so much heat that you can get it back up to temperature within an hour the following day. The sweet spot temperature for our oven is about 750 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother challenge in running a pizza trailer is proofing the dough. Dough has a life cycle. Cold and under-proofed dough is tough and chewy, where over-proofed dough is a nightmare to toss as it becomes sticky and tears easily. Planning how many doughs you\u2019ll need to prepare can sometimes be a challenge,\u201d Maykel said.<\/p>\n

Fired Up offers 16 different pizzas, including a build-your-own option where customers can create whatever pizza they are craving with the listed ingredients.<\/p>\n

The menu can be at www.firedup4pizza. com and on the Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also willing to customize our menu for private gigs if the customer has something specific in mind,\u201d Maykel said, perhaps exponentially increasing the number of options.<\/p>\n

Recognizing all the pizzas he has made over the years, Maykel was asked about his perfect pizza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s like asking which is my favorite child. I love them all,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what makes it for me is the care and attention to the culinary art form that makes the pizza. A great crust, with great ingredients, cooked properly. You want to be able to taste everything. You want to taste the crust, the sauce, the cheese blend, the toppings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen all those things come together, that\u2019s how I get Fired Up for Pizza.\u201d<\/p>\n

His mobile pizza venture opened in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were geared up and planning to open June 1, but due to delays in fabrication, we weren\u2019t able to launch till the end of the food truck season. We\u2019re still working on getting the trailer wrapped with our logos,\u201d Maykel said. \u201cSerrato Signs in Worcester is handling that, and I can tell you from working with their designer and everyone there that I can\u2019t wait to see it when it\u2019s finished. It\u2019s going to look amazing. They do such great work and are such great people.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the response to his launch, \u201cFeedback has been phenomenal so far,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Responses have varied, he added, but are overwhelmingly positive: \u201cAmazing,\u201d \u201cBest pizza I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d \u201cOh, my God, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt truly is a testament when people take the time out of their busy days to email us and let us know how much they enjoyed our product,\u201d Maykel said. \u201dIt truly means the world to us. We have also had such an amazing amount of support from local businesses and customers helping to get our name out there. Rutland truly is a wonderful community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maykel said he is starting to get catering gigs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019ve picked up a few brewery gigs,\u201d he said, adding it was tough since he started at the end of the season and most places are booked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, everywhere we go, someone new loves our pizza and inquires about having us come out in the future. I think people really appreciate the product we are putting out and the care we put into our pizza,\u201d Maykel said.<\/p>\n

Fired Up Pizza has a calendar on the website with a Truck Schedule he updates with when and where he will be, and he posts on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hoping to have several regular spots in Central Mass. Seven Saws Brewery is a great venue, as well as the Milk Room,\u201d he said of the Holden and Rutland breweries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d really like to focus on Rutland, Holden, Princeton, Barre and Spencer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But wherever he sets up, Maykel is focused on firing up the best pizza on wheels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUTLAND – \u201cI was always a fan of good food,\u201d A1 Maykel said. With a quarter century of experience in the food industry, he is showcasing that expertise in a mobile pizza business, Fired Up, which features a traditional Di Fiore oven from Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}