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Brick & Fire Pizza and Pasta Parlor

Written By Administrator On February 2, 2009

Brick & Fire Pizza and Pasta Parlor

It looks like Brick & Fire has found the perfect home.Brick & Fire Pizza and Pasta Parlor

You may remember Brick & Fire when it was located inside Church Street Station until late last year. Or, you may not remember, because precious few people found their way to that part of downtown during the obstructive construction of 55 West. But even without that distraction, there were other factors that prevented Brick & Fire from finding its niche.

A couple of those reasons had to do with Cameron Kuhn. B&F owner Mark Dollard has had a few concepts in that space, including the promising Absinthe Bistro. But when Kuhn bought the entertainment and dining complex, he dictated, according to Dollard, that if he wanted to stay he would have to offer a pizza concept. That was an element that was missing in the complex. And, said Dollard, Kuhn wanted it to be more upscale, so he wanted it to be called Brick & Fire Pizza and Wine Co.. The wine just made it oh so much more appealing, don’t you agree?

Dollard complied, and when I reviewed Brick & Fire for the Sentinel last April, I thought he was doing a pretty good job. I especially liked the pizza, which had the appropriate elasticity in the crust, and was browned just right from the oven, an actual brick oven with real fire, just as the name promised.

But then Kuhn started having financial difficulties, and Church Street Station went into a bankruptcy situation. Dollard, like all the other restaurant and retail owners on the block, found himself in limbo. With a combination of poor traffic, an unsure future, and a present that included rent of $34,000 a month, Dollard decided to finally cut bait on Church Street. Over the course of just a few days in November, he and business partner John Dobson moved the business to a stand-alone building on South Orange Avenue near the Orlando Health medical complex. By all accounts, it seems to have been a very smart move.

The building  doesn’t have the provenance of Church Street Station — ironically, it started life as a Pizza Hut, but most recently it held a Moe’s Southwestern fast fooder — but it has a casual atmosphere that suits Dollard’s cuisine quite nicely. This is your basic pizza joint. And with no one to dictate what they must call the restaurant, Dollard and Dobson dropped the Wine Co. and added Pasta Parlor.

I stopped in recently and ordered the four meat pizza pie, one that I had enjoyed at the old location. But being extra hungry, my companion and I asked our server what we could get super fast while we waited for the pie to bake. She suggested an appetizer order of the beef & pork meatballs. I’m glad she did. The meaty balls were compact and well-spiced, and the marinara sauce they swam in was piquant with bright flavors.

The pizza arrived and it was good — loaded up with pepperoni, salami, capicola and sausage with meatballs and more good sauce. But there was something slightly different about this pie when compared to the one Dollard cooked on Church Street. He told me there was indeed a difference but it had nothing to do with the ingredients. The variance was the result of different ovens. The Church Street location had a $40,000 oven; this location had a less expensive, standard pizza oven, perhaps left over from the Pizza Hut days. It made a difference, but not so much as to detract from the overall result. Brick & Fire still serves a damn good pizza even without Bricks or Fire.

There is, by the way, still wine, even though it isn’t part of the official name anymore. The offerings aren’t stellar, but the prices are impressive: how about $1.99 for a glass of house wine? It isn’t the most generous pour, but still, that’s pretty good.

And the alcohol selections will remain only beer and wine. On Church Street Brick & Fire had a full liquour bar. Dollard and Dobson had planned to have a full bar in their new location. But when they saw that families made up a good portion of their clientele, they decided to scrap those plans.

For his part, Dollard seems much happier now. And why wouldn’t he? He went from $34,000/ month rent to $4,000/month. And he has a lot more customers. And the customers are happy because they can park next door to the restaurant — for free — and have good food in a friendly atmosphere. Everybody wins.

Except Church Street Station.

Brick & Fire is at 1621 S. Orange Ave., Orlando. Lunch and dinner is served daily. Pasta dishes range from $9.95 to $12.95; pizzas are the same prices for 10-inch pies, $17.95-$23.95 for 16-inchers. The phone number is 407-426-8922. More infor and a look at the menu at Brick & Fire’s Web site.

We hope you find our reviews and news articles useful and entertaining. It has always been our goal to assist you in making informed decisions when spending your dining dollars. If we’ve helped you in any way, please consider making a contribution to help us continue our journalism. Thank you.

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