Pizza And Popcorn: BricknFire Pizza Brings Great Pizza To Columbia, Oella And Other Spots

Margherita pizza with prosciutto by BricknFire Pizza

New fatherhood has meant that I need to plan my days around naps and bedtime, and Mr. CrunchDaddy has inspired me to at least try to plan for some pizza this weekend.

Dan -- creator of the local CrunchDaddy Popcorn and friend of the blog -- has been nudging me to seek out pizza at BricknFire Pizza.  BricknFire is a pop-up pizzeria.  A portable oven run by Megan Lanasa, whose family owns the Breadery in Oella.  She bakes pies at farmers markets, Howard County General Hosptial, the Breadery, and other sites.

Dan has been a fan for a while.  He has even teamed up with Lanasa so that he'll do popcorn tasting on Saturday from noon to 3 pm while she is selling pizzas.  I asked him to write up what has caught his fancy:

The quality, authenticity and simplicity of BricknFire Pizza makes for a truly wonderful eating experience. This portable brick oven operation (run by Megan Lanasa) appears at various locations in the area from week to week and frequently on Saturday afternoons at The Breadery in Oella (run by her father, Mike Lanasa). The best place to find their weekly schedule and list of specials is on their Facebook page.

I'm Italian... but I order my Americanized pizza with lots of stuff on it... all the meats, mushrooms, olives, etc. When I have the opportunity to enjoy a real Italian pizza, I'm happy to let the bare elements speak for themselves. I expect the tomato sauce to be fresh, the mozzarella to be milky and the herbs to make my taste buds dance. BricknFire does it like they invented it, with San Marzano tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh herbs and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil as a finishing touch. Baked on fresh made dough in a wood-fired brick oven, the result is heavenly.

Regular offerings at BricknFire Pizza include the classic cheese and Margherita pizzas as well as one with soppressata (cured Italian sausage) as a nod to the meat lovers. Specialty pizzas, dessert pizzas and sandwiches are offered at the whim of Chef Megan and feature a variety of locally-sourced ingredients. The picture that I included was a Margherita pizza with prosciutto added. It really doesn't get more Italian than that.

Again, BricknFire posts its schedule on its Facebook page.  Get lunch today at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.  Or check them out at the Breadery in Oella Friday from 4 to 8 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm.  Try for the bonus Saturday afternoon when you can get pizza, shop at Breadery, and taste CrunchDaddy.  I'm a huge fan of Dan's popcorn and recommend bags as hostess or holidays gifts.

The Breadery is worth checking out even without the pizza.  It's a really nice bakery.  Part of the real revolution in bread that happened even before Whole Foods came to town.  They were expanding into cheese and others foods when I last visited, but I haven't seen the expanded layout.  It's an easy drive from Main Street in Ellicott City, and it's a great walk up a trail when the weather is good.  Again, I'm hoping this weekend.