The Introduction of the Alfa Moderno II Pizza Oven

There is something about the smell of a wood-fired oven warming up on a sunny morning that stops everything. Work can wait. Lunch, it turns out, cannot.

That was precisely the mood at Cedar Nursery on the day a visiting chef Marco Biasetti came to cook the team lunch - and to put the brand new Alfa Moderno II pizza oven properly through its paces. What followed was one of those rare working days that nobody was in any hurry to see end.

A Chef, a Fire, and a Very Good Lunch

The setting was the outdoor cooking display at Cedar Nursery - open sky, warm sunshine, and the kind of relaxed atmosphere that only happens when someone who genuinely knows what they are doing takes charge of the fire. The Alfa Moderno II sat at the centre of it all, already drawing heat, already turning heads.

The occasion was simple enough: a chef visit, a team lunch, and a chance to see a serious piece of Italian outdoor cooking equipment doing what it was designed to do. But simple occasions have a habit of becoming memorable ones when the food is this good. By the time the first pizza came off the stone, nobody was thinking about the afternoon's schedule.

This is exactly the kind of moment that outdoor cooking is built around. Not the formal dinner party, not the carefully curated occasion - just good food, real fire, and people gathering around both. The Alfa Moderno II made it look effortless. That, in itself, tells you a great deal about the oven.

Meet the Alfa Moderno II

The Alfa Moderno II is the latest addition to our pizza oven range at Kitchen in the Garden, and it arrives with serious credentials. Alfa Forni is an Italian manufacturer with decades of oven-making expertise behind it - a brand that takes the science of heat and fire as seriously as any professional kitchen supplier.

The Moderno II reflects that heritage in every detail. The design is clean and contemporary - this is not a rustic clay dome tucked into a corner. It is a considered, architecturally confident piece of outdoor cooking equipment that holds its own visually whether it sits within a modular outdoor kitchen or stands alone as a centrepiece on a terrace.

On performance, the numbers speak for themselves. The Moderno II reaches cooking temperature with impressive speed, thanks to Alfa's patented Forninox technology - a stainless steel cooking chamber that heats rapidly and retains that heat consistently. For Neapolitan-style pizza, you want a stone floor temperature approaching 400-450°C, and this oven gets there without fuss. The result is a crust with genuine leopard spotting, a properly blistered base, and toppings that cook in the radiant heat rather than drying out under it.

Fuel flexibility is another strength. The Moderno II is available in wood-fired and gas configurations, allowing you to choose based on your cooking style and garden setup. Wood gives you the theatre and the smoke character; gas gives you precision and convenience. Both deliver the performance you would expect from a manufacturer of this calibre.

And while pizza is the headline act, it is far from the only one. Bread, focaccia, roasted vegetables, whole fish, slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, even desserts - the retained heat of a well-fired oven opens up a repertoire that goes well beyond the standard weekend cook. If you have been thinking of a dedicated outdoor oven for a while, this is the one that rewards serious cooks.

What Came Out of the Oven

Marco worked with a dough that had been proving overnight - properly fermented, elastic, and ready to stretch thin without tearing. The first course was roasted chicken fillets with thyme, nectarines, pine nuts and honey, served on a bed of simple leaves, followed by a vegan pizza topped with charred courgettes, mushrooms, rosemary and red onions. Nothing to hide behind, which is exactly the point when you want to show what an oven can do.

 

Further rounds followed, each one taking under two minutes from stone to board. The oven barely paused between them.

We will be sharing his recipes in full - find recipe inspiration here - and we would strongly recommend you work through them. They are straightforward enough for a confident home cook and rewarding enough to make the effort feel worthwhile every time.

Why This Oven Belongs in Your Garden

There is a version of outdoor cooking that is about convenience - the gas barbecue that gets you through a summer of weeknight suppers without much fuss. The Alfa Moderno II is not that. It is for the cook who wants the experience as much as the outcome: the ritual of lighting the fire, the satisfaction of reading the heat, the moment when the oven is ready and the first pizza goes in.

That experience changes how you think about cooking outdoors. It shifts the garden from a backdrop for a barbecue into a proper kitchen environment - one that happens to have better light and a more interesting ceiling than anything indoors. Paired with a well-specified outdoor kitchen island or a modular setup with prep space and storage, the Moderno II becomes the anchor of a genuinely capable outdoor cooking space.

For Surrey gardens and the wider South of England - where summer evenings stretch long and al fresco dining is genuinely part of how people live from May through to October - this kind of investment makes real sense. It is not a novelty that comes out twice a year. It is an oven that earns its place every time the weather allows, and occasionally when it does not.

The social dimension matters too. There is something about cooking with fire that draws people in. Guests gather around it. Children are fascinated by it. Conversations happen differently when there is a live flame and something good cooking above it. The Alfa Moderno II creates that atmosphere without any effort on your part - the oven does the work, and you take the credit.

Come and See It for Yourself

The Alfa Moderno II is on display at Kitchen in the Garden at Cedar Nursery, Cobham - and seeing it in person makes a real difference. Photographs do not convey the quality of the build, the weight of the door, or the scale of the cooking chamber. Our team can walk you through the full Alfa range, talk through which model suits your garden and cooking style, and show you how it sits within a wider outdoor kitchen setup.

We are conveniently located close to RHS Wisley and within easy reach of the M25 at Junctions 9 and 10 - making us an easy visit from across Surrey and the South of England.

If you are ready to start planning, our design team can help you think through the whole space - from the oven itself to prep surfaces, built-in grills, outdoor refrigeration, and everything in between. Take a look at some of our recent projects for a sense of what is possible, or explore our outdoor cooking ideas for further inspiration.

This is a considered purchase, and it deserves a considered conversation. Come and see the Alfa Moderno II in person and let our team help you get it right. Visit kitcheninthegarden.co.uk to plan your trip or book a consultation, browse our full range online, or contact our design team on 01932 556266 for expert advice. We deliver nationwide via courier.