Marco Duval built his first wood fired oven from a kit in his parents' garden in Kent, mostly to settle an argument about whether real Neapolitan dough needed a proper oven or just a hot one. Three years and a lot of ruined bases later, he had an answer, and a habit he couldn't put down.
His friend Theo Whitfield, who ran the wine list at a restaurant two towns over, started turning up on Sunday afternoons to eat the results and offer opinions. By the second year, the opinions had become a business plan.
Four milestones, four years.
The Garden Oven
Marco builds his first wood fired oven and starts feeding the neighbours on weekends. Word spreads faster than the dough can prove.
Market Stall
A trailer oven and a Saturday pitch at the local market. Theo joins full time, brings the wine, and the queue starts before opening.
118 Kiln Street
Forno opens its first proper kitchen in Ashbourne Quarter, a stone's throw from the market stall's old pitch. Aisha and Priya join the line.
Same Kitchen, Same Four Faces
No second site, no franchise offers taken up. Just one kitchen, run properly, by the same small team that started it.
Three rules that haven't moved.
Growing a second site was always tempting. These are the reasons it hasn't happened yet.
No Freezer, Ever
Dough is made fresh daily on site. If we can't make it that morning, it doesn't go on the menu that day.
One Kitchen, One Standard
A second site means a second oven, a second dough, and a standard we can't personally check every night. Not yet.
Small Menu, Done Properly
Twenty dishes, not two hundred. Every one of them is something the four of us would order ourselves.
"We never set out to open a restaurant. We just kept feeding people, and eventually we needed a bigger oven."