With his oven burning at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees Fahrenheit, Tyler Black is hoping to get locals fired up.
Black, 29, is getting ready to roll out his new food truck business, Ameraucana Wood Fire. The food truck, which contains a state-of-the-art wood-fire oven, will debut at High Dive on Friday.
Black said his truck name was inspired by the Ameraucana type of chickens he raises on his farm.
“It … says something about the theme of the business,” he said. “I’m using domestic ingredients to make something that is great.”
He will serve pizzas and other items, such as locally milled grits incorporated in a polenta-inspired dish topped with ratatouille.
Prices range from about $7 to $12.
Black, a Gainesville native, said he got burned out working in the Philadelphia fine-dining scene, so he brought his skills back to Gainesville.
“I wanted to do something accessible that still used very refined techniques and high-quality ingredients,” he said. “Wood-fired pizza seemed to be a perfect culmination of my experience.”
Leslie Flanders, a 19-year-old UF nursing freshman, said she’s excited to try creations from the food truck.
“Something like this is exactly what this campus needs,” she said. “I can’t wait to get my hands on a plate.”
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 10/28/2013 under the headline "Wood-fire food truck to debut Friday"
