ABOUT TUSCAN EVENTS

Michael's story

In the mid 90's I was working for Wolfgang Puck at Postrio in San Francisco serving some very fine artisan pizzas from a wood burning oven - smoked salmon with dill creme fraiche was the rage in those early days of wood fired pizza in America. During this period I had the great pleasure of spending an important birthday in France and Italy. Being a bit bored with Milano I took a day trip to Genoa and two life changing things happened; a) I discovered that espresso coffee could actually taste good, and b) I had my first Neapolitan pizza from a wood burning oven. I still remember it was a margherita con funghi that was larger than a dinner plate. I ate every bit of that pizza and still had room for tiramisu. Fantastico!!

As for the espresso, in 1996 life took me back to Europe but this time to live and work. Based in London, I set about learning everything I could about espresso coffee, studied with a maestro del espresso in Trieste, Italy then proceeded to spend the next 10 years traveling all around Europe opening café/coffee bars and teaching people how to make espresso taste good.

In 2005 my client in Athens, Greece, decided he wanted a 1930’s art deco Italian espresso bar along with a wood burning oven to make focaccia for sandwiches. Fantastic! I remembered the wonderful pizza I had in Genoa ten years before and convinced my client we should include Neapolitan pizza on the evening menu. So, off to Italy I went in search of a master pizzaiolo who would take me as a student and teach me how to make this wonderful pizza. Long story short, the second day with Enzo Coccia at La Notizia in Napoli – I was hooked. After completing my project in Athens I headed back to Napoli for a longer stay (almost two months) to hone my pizza making skills.

Now, 13 years after that wonderful pizza experience in Genoa, here I am back in Northern California making pizza in my very own wood burning oven and anxious to make them for you and your guests.

Michael Fairholme

We provide pizza parties and catering to The San Francisco Bay Area, Sonoma, Napa and Sacramento!