Business of the Month

The Bread Stone Ovens Company

Did you know you can do more with a stone oven than just make pizza? That’s what this month’s Business of the Month is all about! Please enjoy reading about your neighbor Antoine Cantarel and his local stone oven company.

What is the name of your business and how long have you been in business?

The Bread Stone Ovens Company -- in business since 2011.

You can fi nd us online at www.breadstoneovens.com and reach us at info@breadstoneovens.com or by phone at (469) 484-4990.

Tell us about your business (what do you do, where do you do it, etc).

We import materials to make wood fi red brick ovens that we sell as a kit or as fully assembled ovens all over the US and Canada. The oven can be assembled on a trailer, in a back yard, or in a restaurant. We also offer cooking class and oven rental. Our warehouse and showroom are in Dallas. The business is about bringing back a simple way to make good food.

What inspired you to do what you do?

Growing-up in France, my family held, and still holds, a yearly family reunion on the family farm that has an old wood fi red brick oven. This oven was built around 1815 after the French revolution and was one of the fi rst communal ovens in the village. Back then it was the only way of cooking. This old oven is still in use and it takes three days to heat-up and three days to cool off.

My grandparents always told stories of when they were kids. The oven was fi red about once a week. All of the neighbors brought their bread and other dishes, as well as a log for the next fi ring. The oven was also fi red at every life opportunity: wedding, baptism, communion, and such. Over the three days it took for the oven to slowly cool off, all kinds of dishes were cooked using the residual heat. This type of oven fell out of use with the invention of modern gas and electric ovens.

I went to culinary school in France and then followed with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant management, then moved to the U.S. After pursuing a career in the hotel industry, I developed a passion for brick oven and wood fi red cooking. About 10 years ago I tried to implement a concept of wood fi red oven in the hotel and restaurant I was managing but quickly realized that most companies offered only pizza ovens. I was looking for a true brick oven that could do a lot more than just pizza. I wanted to be able to offer a full line of dishes prepared with the different temperatures the oven offered.

Fast forward three years and I started importing true wood fi red ovens that could do pizza and a lot more. Bread, cakes, rotisserie chicken,

smoking, grilling, slow cooking, dehydrating, there is no limit to what you can do with a true wood fi red brick oven. Our ovens only take two hours to heat up and once the fi re is removed the heat stored in the bricks will provide enough residual heat to cook for two to three days.

Tells us a favorite story or two about your business.

When I fi rst started to offer the cooking classes, one of my clients who was putting an oven in a food truck wanted me to train him and his mom. It was a career change for him and they both had everything to learn. I spent a whole day sharing everything I knew and sent them on their way. Six months later he called me saying he was just voted second best pizza food truck in the entire U.S. All credit to them but it was very rewarding. If you want to check them out they are the Saucee Sicilian in Oklahoma City, OK.

How long have you lived in Canyon Creek?

3 years.

What brought you to Canyon Creek?

We moved to the DFW area four years ago when my wife got a fantastic research opportunity at Baylor downtown. After a year we very much loved DFW and wanted to buy a house to settle down long-term. Canyon Creek offered everything we were looking for: proximity to downtown Dallas, good schools, beautiful neighborhood, and a lot of diverse and very friendly neighbors.

What do you love most about living in Canyon Creek?

The sense of community with our neighbors. Whether it is to borrow an egg or watch our cat when we are out of town, people are always ready to help. And there is nothing that a wood fi red pizza can’t repay!

Tell us about your family (names, ages, schools, work, etc).

My wife Brandi Cantarel, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioinformatic at UTSW Medical Center

Luc, 9 years old, 3rd grade at Aldridge

Zach, 8 years old, 2nd grade at Aldridge

My self, Antoine, small business owner

Share with us a funny or awesome story of living in Canyon Creek.

The fi rst two years we were in the neighborhood I was a Den leader for the local cub scout pack 262. For a campout, I brought an oven

and we made pizza for everyone. Now in the neighborhood everyone knows me as the pizza oven guy.

A couple of years ago ,we invited friends and neighbors as we cooked a whole suckling pig, 70lbs, for eight hours in the brick oven. People are still asking me when we are doing it again.

Anything else you’d love for your neighbors to know about your business or you?

Along with the cooking class, we offer a cooking blog on our website: www.breadstoneovens.com/collections/wood-fi red-oven-cooking-class www.breadstoneovens.com/blogs/news/18240713-bread