Specialist Pizza Oven Supplier At Heart of The River Café’s 2026 Refurbishment

Pizza oven pioneer, Orchard Ovens, has gained reaffirmation that top eateries across the UK regard its commercial wood ovens as best in class, having just fitted out London’s Michelin-starred venue, The River Café, with its second oven.

The commercial ‘pizza’ oven team at Orchard Ovens have had a fantastic start to 2026, with much of this down to what it is referring to as re(pizza) business – second-time-around purchases of its top-quality, restaurant-grade wood ovens.

This has been the case with The River Café, located on the River Thames  at Thames Wharf, Hammersmith.  Orchard Ovens first fitted a commercial pizza oven there in 2008, with the bright pink oven being real pizza oven eye candy and featuring in many a publicity shot for the venue.  

Dezeen magazine stated, at the time, “A notable addition is a new wood burning oven, dominating the dining room and kitchen.  Manufactured by the Italian firm of Valoriani, this type of oven, made in Reggello, in the hills of Tuscany  25km southeast of Florece – is key to the preparation of the River Café’s many dishes.”

Now, 18 years later, Orchard Ovens has gone back into the venue to equip it with a brand-new Valoriani oven, as part of its 2026 refurbishment.  Such is the oven’s importance to the venue, that owner Ruthie Rogers’ mentioned it on her podcast, saying that two things arrived at the Michelin-starred restaurant when it reopened after Christmas – a new wood oven and the Italian vegetable agretti.  She said the oven and new décor had lifted the mood on a cold, grey day after Christmas.

The longevity of the original oven says it all about Valoriani as a manufacturer.  Despite the wood oven being in constant use at The River Café, cooking a huge variety of dishes, it had been in situ for 18 years and still not reached end of life.

As one reviewer at OneDishCloser.com noted in 2016, “The wood oven has touched everything, giving the tender lamb an added depth of flavour, rendering the onions sweet and sticky and those potatoes, oh my.”

The venue always attracts the rich and famous, who settle for nothing short of perfection.  TV royalty such as Richard Osman, politicians such as Kamala Harris and Dame Jacinda Ardern, and other A-listers all feature on its socials.  The backdrop to many of their images is the pink Valoriani oven from Orchard Ovens.  

Notably, Jamie Oliver trained at The River Café and was one of Orchard Ovens’ very first customers.  The Preston-based business fitted Jamie’s garden oven over 20 years ago and even got a credit in his cookbook of the time.

Owner of Orchard Ovens’, Andrew Manciocchi, says, “We couldn’t be happier to have equipped The River Café with another oven that is now the workhorse behind an exciting menu that changes daily but which makes great use of the oven’s capacities.  The River Café team are a delight to work with and are as wowed by their new oven as their former one.”

A sample menu on the restaurant’s website features dishes such as Pollo Arrosto – chicken cooked in Valpolicello and served with Tuscan roast potatoes.  There is also Fegato di Vitello (calves liver) cooked with pancetta and herbs, alongside roast pumpkin.  The menu also highlights how fish can also be cooked in the commercial ‘pizza’ oven – or wood fired oven, as we prefer to call it.  The Sogliola al Forno dish is a whole slip-sole, which is wood roasted with black olives, marjoram and slow-cooked Florence fennel.

As Andrew Manciocchi notes, “There are some true tastes of Tuscany in The River Café’s menu, cooked in an oven lovingly shaped by undisputed Tuscan artisans and fire-brick specialists – the Valoriani family.  The oven is manufactured from unique ‘cotto’ clay, which has remarkable firing-up and heat retention properties.  When this is coupled with first-class design and insulation, it is easy to see why discerning venues have only one name on their lips when they buy an oven, with that being ‘Valoriani’.”

Other establishments wishing to have a wood oven touch everything on their own menu, or simply wishing to serve top-grade gourmet pizzas, should contact Orchard Ovens on 07743 847647.  Home owners wanting to serve authentic Italian cuisine from their own domestic wood oven will also find that Orchard Ovens has a range of options carrying the prestigious V symbol of Valoriani.

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Editors notes

Orchard Ovens is the domestic and commercial pizza oven supplier in the UK of Valoriani, based in Reggello, Tuscany - the manufacturer of Italy's hugely respected Valoriani pizza ovens, known as the Maserati of pizza ovens and the kings of clay. These ovens are made from superb refractory clay - cotto clay - found in the family's quarry and unique, thanks to having just the right alumina. This allows Valoriani ovens to heat up quickly and retain heat superbly, bring huge advantages to homeowners, as well as restaurant owners, hotels, pubs, mobile caterers, pizzerias, takeaways and more.

Orchard Ovens supplies some of Britain's best-known restaurants and chefs, whilst it is also a specialist creator of outdoor kitchens and wood-fired oven builds for the rich and famous, as well as everyday homeowners wishing to add value to their home and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle to the full.