In Forno

This post is not going to be typical for my blog. I just learned that the owners of In Forno have sold their business and will be transitioning the pizzeria over the next few months to the new owners. They are staying to train the new owners, so hopefully the quality will stay consistent. George worked in New York City as a remodeling contractor and decided to regain his profession as a chef. He and his family moved to Cleveland in 2009.

I have been a fan of In Forno for quite a long time. I first heard about it from a friend who lives in my hometown of Olmsted Falls. They would do pop-ups at farmers’ markets as well as at Ye Olde Wine Cellar at Olmsted Falls when it was in the old Master Cleaners’ storefront. As I said, as a remodeling contractor, George built a wood-fired oven and installed it on a trailer for maximum mobility. They would tow their portable wood-fired pizza oven to the various locations and created delicious Neapolitano pizza. Their pizzas are thin crust and are around 12-13 inches in diameter. Once they earned enough capital they opened a brick and mortar pizzeria in Avon.

Since I live on the east side I did not make it out to them as often as I would have liked. I followed them on Facebook for many years and remember the excitement when I read about their special peach pizza, which featured fresh peaches, their white sauce and fresh basil, several years ago. I met several friends for that pizza, which was just as good as I had hoped. It was a great summer-forward pizza – as was the Celeste (featured below on the right), which features truffle and artichoke paste, grated and fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, arugula and olive oil. The Celeste is my friend’s favorite.

When we heard that In Forno was sold, we knew we had to go there one last time and met last Friday. We got there quite early to make sure we had a table for our group. The other early bird friend and I ordered appetizers for the table – the Burrata Plate and the Caprese. The Burrata Plate featured fresh, creamy burrata on a bed of arugula that is served with grape tomatoes, black olives, coppa and fire-roasted garlic bread. It definitely hit the spot! In fact, I liked the burrata so much that I ended up ordering a burrata pizza instead of my usual margherita. It was great and another friend ordered it with fresh garlic added. She loved it. Another friend ordered the pepperoni pizza, which was also delicious. I took home half to have for lunch the next day and the slices reheated well in the air fryer.

Who knows what the future will hold. I wish George and his wife Bianka well in their future endeavors (I hear George will be opening up something on Broadway in Lorain) and am crossing my fingers that the new owners continue the success of In Forno in the future! Be sure to keep patronizing them and show them some love. Transitions are never easy. George and Bianka, thank you for bringing us delicious pizza for the past 10+ years.

Contact info:

In Forno Pizza
35840 Chester Road
Avon, OH 44011
(216) 394-9784