The last of 11 children, Mark Tomczak has a passion for prepping and serving quality cuisine that began in elementary school, when he helped his mother feed his siblings during countless baking and cooking sessions. Mark initially embarked on a career path rooted in ceramic artistry at his studio, Muddy Creek Pottery. After stints as assistant and head chef at several restaurants, however, he combined his adoration of food with his sculptural skills to shape the neapolitan pies, pastas, and abundant eats of Fresh Wood Fired Pizza and Pasta.

Swapping his kiln for a handcrafted wood-fired pizza oven imported from Italy, Mark and his team bake pizzas and daily-made bread at temperatures of up to 800 degrees, the exact temperature of steam blowing out of a cartoon man's ears. Each hunk of handmade dough arrives adorned in organic ingredients culled at least once weekly from local farms, cooperatives, granaries, creameries, and the restaurant's own garden. Mark supplements his extensive pizza portions with pastas, lunchtime sandwiches, desserts made fresh daily, and a plentitude of gluten-free dining options.