When Andrew Dana and Chris Brady left their corporate sales jobs and established Timber Pizza Co. in 2014, their business consisted of a food truck and pizza oven.
Fast forward to 2023, and the growing operation has brick-and-mortar locations in Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Va. and Virginia’s Reagan airport, along with four food trucks and a thriving catering operation.
“We opened our first location in 2016, with chef Dani Moreira completing the dream team,” says Luke Watson, Timber Pizza Co. CEO. “I joined Timber Pizza a year ago with the intention of growing this mom-and-pop business through franchising. Our plan is to build infrastructure, sign key partnerships and work with the best of the best.”
It turned out that, when testing pizza ovens, the third time was a charm.
“Marra Forni’s mobile oven was the third one Timber Pizza purchased; we now have six of its ovens, with four in our mobile trailers,” Watson says. “We’re focused on working with the best of the best, and their ovens are incredibly well made and works of art.”
When it was time to choose an oven for its airport location, which opened in November 2022, there was no question that Marra Forni’s Rotator Brick Oven would be a perfect fit.
“Being a smaller organization and new franchise brand, we learned a lot of what was needed from our existing locations,” Watson says. “We are incredibly happy with the Rotator oven. It is made with high-quality materials, and there are many benefits, including maintaining pizza quality and ease of use. It works quickly, which is very beneficial to the restaurant.”
Marra Forni’s Rotator Brick Oven is versatile and durable as well as customizable. It provides both wood- and gas-fired burning options, with a flame indicator component that reduces human error. Other features include auto on/off to save labor, temperature control to ensure consistency, burners control that provides heating options, rotation control for different speeds or directions, and the ability to create and store customized recipes.
“The technology means consistent temperatures within the entire oven, which is important when working in a high-volume environment like ours,” Watson says.
“After a rotation or two, we have a perfect pizza every time.”
Timber Pizza Co. is currently ramping up its new locations and plans to incorporate Marra Forni’s Rotator Brick Oven as the centerpiece and main cooking component.
“Our goal was to find equipment that could maintain our level of quality with scaling up and does not require extensive training to use,” Watson explains. “Marra Forni gave us the tools to do that.”
In addition, having the ongoing support of Marra Forni has been invaluable.
“Marra Forni was there for us from pre-opening and designing the oven and also post opening,” Watson says. “Their team is always available to answer calls and provide on-site support when needed; this is not just a transactional relationship, but a partnership between Timber Pizza and Marra Forni, which we really appreciate.”
