Sommelier Opens Wine-Bar & Wood-Fired Pizza Shop in Old Towne Orange

Rick Guzman, a sommelier and Orange native, has brought his longtime dream to life with Pizzeria Irene at 123 N. Olive Street in Old Towne Orange, combining an extensive wine list with Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizzas. The restaurant is built around a custom Acunto oven—named “Irene” for Guzman’s grandmother—and the entire menu is cooked from the fire, with zero gas lines in the building.

Guzman trained under master pizza-maker Josh Mason and sourced the oven during a research trip to Italy; the handmade clay-brick oven reaches up to 900 °F and imparts signature char and chew to the crusts. The food menu is concise—classic pizzas, antipasti, charcuterie, and a Caesar salad—with the wine list leaning Italian, but also featuring French and New World selections tailored to diners’ preferences.

Though the restaurant opened only recently, it’s already building buzz: lines stretch on Fridays and Saturdays, and Guzman insists on no reservations for now. The space’s centerpiece—the cobalt-blue “Irene” oven covered in Venetian tile—serves as both visual anchor and tribute to Guzman’s heritage, arriving just months after he lost the grandmother in whose name he named the pizzeria.

Read the Original Article: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2024-11-27/sommelier-turns-up-the-heat-at-old-towne-orange-wine-bar-and-wood-fired-pizza-shop