They're En Fuego at Orinda's Bonfire Pizza

At in Orinda's Theatre Square, pizza master Steve Austin slides out a metal drawer and selects his dough with the deliberation of a surgeon selecting the right scalpel. Fifteen minutes later he’s placing an irregularly shaped orb deftly swirled with organic sauce, artisan mozzarella cheese and parmesan, and sprinkled with caramelized onions, onto the counter in front of me.

I try not to inhale. I’m here on business. Pizza will have to wait.

For Lafayette residents Adam Sall, Justin Bain and Ryan Mason, three young guys determined to feed the world the food they love, talking business while knocking back a slice is as natural as drawing breath.

“Ohhhh, the potatoes and caramelized onion with white truffle oil pizza — you put an egg on top and when that runny yolk mixes in, that’ll curl your toes,” Sall promises.

“The Hawaiian pizza, if you dip it in a little bit of Ranch, the house Ranch we make right here, it doesn’t get better than that,” Bain offers.

Mason isn’t around the day I visit, so Sall and Bain are carrying the ball. For these guys, a visiting Patch reporter is an opportunity to talk about their passion.

“We use fresh pineapple and prosciutto, not that ham or bacon stuff others use,” Bain said, his eyes dreamy. “And the dough: we use a two-day rise and a funky yeast. You can’t just send anyone back there with the dough, because it’s finicky.”

“The thought of anyone eating bad pizza is catastrophic to us,” Sall said.

Bonfire opened on February 24 and the lines for their concoctions have been long, but its young owners are concentrating on intense quality control.

“I try to see every pizza that comes out of our kitchen," Bain said. "If there’s brown on the bottom, I won’t let it go out."

Delivery service will start in Orinda in the next few weeks. Adding desserts is also on the to-do list.

“There are going to be many tastings,” Sall laughed, rubbing his hands on his belly.  “We feel a responsibility to taste all the gelato out there before we decide.”

Pizza and responsibility haven’t always gone hand in hand, but Bonfire’s owners are setting out to change that, too, contributing financial support to Glorietta Elementary’s auction and sponsoring an Orinda Youth Baseball team even before they opened.

While some business owners have lamented Theatre Square’s limited visibility, Sall says their choice of location was deliberate.

“We chose the back here because of the kids. See that big courtyard?” he asks, gesturing at the open space on the other side of Bonfire’s floor to ceiling windows. “We wanted the kids to run around outside and not have parents being worried they’d be in traffic.”

Business has been brisk, especially Thursday through Sunday.

“It’s not important to immediately have the flood," Sall said. "I care more about having a sustainable business."

Bain and Sall said they've hired 22 employees and will soon add yet another new hire they managed to lure away from their competition.

“He’s a god of pizza,” Sall claims.

“When he throws the dough, it’s like it levitates in the air,” swoons Bain.

“You never seen —” Sall begins, but the arrival of another gently steaming pie stops him mid-sentence.

It's time for yet another round of quality control, Bonfire-style.