LOCAL FLAVOR: Fire and Stone Pizzeria ovens heating up

CHILLICOTHE – In the coming days, one downtown store front will be adding a few elements.

Fire and Stone Pizzeria owner Sean Immell plans to install a fence around the restaurant's patio seating. He says it is part of the requirements for the newest permit his restaurant has received. With the new permit and fencing, Fire and Stone will soon be able to serve beer and wine on the patio.

Immell said he has been working to obtain the license for a year, and he expects to have everything ready by next weekend.

It's the latest move for a restaurant that brought an unique element to the downtown landscape. The restaurant, which has been in business just over a year, uses fresh, Ohio-grown ingredients and the sauces are made in-house.

The dough is hand-tossed, never frozen, for a crispy, thin crust. Pizzas are cooked in an old-world oven with a stone hearth, where the flames regularly reach 500 degrees.

Immell said that the oven was held in storage for 12 years before he was finally able to use it in this restaurant. But before he could start it up, he had to get it in the door.

It was clear the 6,000-pound oven was not going to fit through the front door of the Paint Street building. So in order to get it inside, Immell had to take out the entire front wall to the restaurant and bring in the oven on a forklift.

Fire and Stone Pizzeria is Immell's fourth restaurant; his first opened in 1999. Immell said he is glad to have another restaurant in the downtown area.

"I love our downtown, I think it's in an upswing, and it's the right time to come back down here."

Fire and Stone Pizzeria

Location: 98 N. Paint St.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday to Saturday

Specialty: Artisan pizza, thin crust, made in an old-world oven with stone hearth

Seats: 60 inside, 18 patio

Style: Dine-in, carry out, limited delivery