The Restaurants Rekindling an Old Flame

Some years are for chillingly precise Nordic techniques and molecular gastronomy. Others are for open flames and heat. As 2022 rolls through its second quarter, it’s clear that the latter option is dominating the narrative. We’ve been here before - wood-burning eateries had been declared trendy back in 2015 and again in 2017 - with standouts like Washington D.C’s dazzling Maydan and Chicago’s lauded Elske. This year, once again - from New York City and San Francisco, to Sydney and Singapore - the high-end live fire restaurant has become inescapable. 

Equipped with a large wood-burning stove or grill, the restaurant of the moment distinguishes itself from its fellow establishments by a certain adventurous flair, but that’s where the common thread ends. The flavours may lean towards smoke and char at one spot, but scale subtler at another. When it comes to cuisine, there are many globe-spanning possibilities. At Eyval, the latest addition to Bushwick’s dining scene (Brooklyn, NY), it’s all about Iranian dishes, inspired by traditional street stalls of charcoal-cooked kebabs. At Oakland’s Mago, Colombian arepas and beef rib eye meet the fire weekly. Dagon, in NYC, uses the wood-fired oven to roast lamb, Mediterranean-style, and bake Jerusalem bagels. The one key factor all of these restaurants have in common? They had opened during the pandemic, and that’s hardly a coincidence. 

^{Photo: Courtesy of Osito}

“Growing up and cooking in San Antonio, TX, all my favourite flavours came up from the fire,” says Seth Stowaway, the chef and owner of San Francisco’s newest 100% live-fire restaurant, Osito. “The more I worked with fire, the more it seemed like a sophisticated, romantic way to cook.” After long months of quarantining and obsessively following COVID-19 news, romance is something we all could use. At the restaurant, which offers a multi-course $295 dinner and has an adjacent bar with an a-la carte menu, Stowaway currently serves an ocean-centric menu, which includes dishes like cod roulade with roasted pepitas truffle sauce, and marinated geoduck roasted over embers. Every dish is a revelation, utilising the fire’s many nuances, from smoking to gently curing. 

Stowaway’s approach is exemplary of the new direction live-fire cooking has taken recently - a rather versatile one, without leaning on the classic flavour profile customers might expect from a fire-prepared dish. “People would say - I guess we were expecting more smoke and char - but part of our goal is showing how delicate fire can be,” he says. One example is a kombu-wrapped trout,  placed above the hearth at the very beginning of dinnertime. The fish cooks in residual heat, and, two hours later, it’s almost the texture of cured fish. “The point is to show, as far as we can, how much control and technique we have. How we’re being creative with this medium.” 

^{Photo: Courtesy of Osito}

Across the country, at NYC’s pretty and welcoming Zou Zou’s, which opened in 2021, executive chef Madeline Sperling is also loving reimagining the medium with her fire-powered eastern Mediterranean menu. The hearth, she says, constantly keeps the team on its toes, adding “yet another X-factor,” and readily lends itself to anything from Moroccan roasted chicken to charred celery root. Even the little gem Caesar is finished with grilled grapes. The eggplant dip - the reason for a crowing of eggplants on the grill towards the end of the night, is cleverly charred over the embers that accumulate during dinner service.

After a period of closures and takeout, chefs are eager to engage with something a little more hands-on, more immersive - a wood-burning oven requires a here-and-now attitude, and an adoring audience. “The sight, sound and smell of the fire add to our restaurant’s ambiance and make the dining experience feel warmer, both figuratively and literally,” says Sperling. At BATA, a brand-new live-fire restaurant in Tucson, AZ, chef and owner Tyler Fenton acknowledges the tricky side of the genre with affection: “If you need more heat, it’s not just the turn of a knob, it’s adding a log or moving your cooking surface closer to the fire,” he says. “While this is a challenge, it’s also a benefit, as it forces you to be fully focused and present in your work.”

^{Photo: Courtesy of Zou Zou}

Then, there’s something primally communal and honest about this type of cooking and dining - while in many restaurants the dishes emerge from behind the proverbial curtain, it’s nearly impossible to hide a huge, burning hearth. Rather, at the new crop of restaurants, it’s the living, breathing focal point. “The potential for storytelling is a key factor,” says Fenton. “Everyone has some connection to fire, be it backyard cookouts, camping, or a wood burning fireplace. This allows chefs to make dishes that people have a real emotional connection to, and that is one of the great feelings as a chef.” 

For Stowaway, the live fire is about rediscovering what we’ve known all along. “It's going back to the beginning. Gathering around a fire, in terms of our concept, is what people are craving after two long years,” he says, referring to the pandemic. “Fire represents gathering, warmth, the feeling of being cared for. Obviously now we’re in a place we want to feel cared for.” 

^{Photo: Courtesy of Zou Zou}

This much-needed feeling of care and warmth doesn’t come cheaply. Despite the soaring gas prices, quality wood, says Sperling, “is not cheap, nor is the routine maintenance for our hearth’s systems.” A hearth can lead to more permitting hurdles, as well - Zou Zou’s had to wait for a special inspection and permits that deal with the usage of solid fuel in the kitchen. But then, Sperling says, “the financial commitment to do this kind of cooking is ongoing, but something we feel is a critical difference-maker for the cuisine we are doing.” Compared to gas, Stowaway says, “obviously, wood is more expensive - because of the quantity you need on a daily basis.” 

Nevertheless, wood-burning, flame-centric restaurants are a leading bet at the moment. “I think guests can tell when the kitchen is excited about what they are making, and I think cooking over a live fire is hot and hard work, but it is exciting and delicious and worth the effort every time.” says Fenton. It’s impossible to argue with that.