No hello kitty, it's hello tuna. Before your face is Attila, the emperor of East Sooke (Vancouver Island) at the Smokin' Tuna Cafe. I heard about two girls who wanted an oven for their ocean front food establishment, so comrade Ben and I started scheming. They wanted a smoking tuna oven which was a great artistic challenge, but could we actually make a tuna oven that smoked? Why not? So Ben whipped up a design and we decided where Attila the tuna would reside on the patio. A front venting chimney was too much of a 'tunicorn', so we decided on a cross draft chimney (where smoke vents through the back of the oven). Our first rock foundation with concrete was built and underneath the hearth we insulated with pumice. The door was made next door by a boat builder, the egg lady chatted with the local glass blower who made some eyeballs for atilla. With two different style of eyes, Attila was starting to take shape...amazing. Our good artist friend Kirsten dropped some sculpting skills and was responsible for the great looking tail. Armed with questions, customers ate their lunch and watched with curiosity. I could see it in their faces, MUD?
The learning curve with Attila was massive and I knew more ovens were on the horizon. Aesthetic and practical ovens would be the direction of our creations, with the material we loved during our childhood...mud.
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