COEUR d'ALENE - The first place Doug Johnson takes a Tuesday morning visitor to Fire Artisan Pizza is to the wood-fired oven.

No surprise.

"This is the core of our business," he says.

What arrived in several pieces from California and weighed 3,500 pounds was assembled and turned loose to be a fire-breathing, brick oven unlike any other.

The result, Johnson explains, is some of the most amazing pizza you'll ever taste.

"All the heat that's generated by the wood is right there next to where the pizza is," he said with a proud smile.

At 800 degrees, fired by cherry and plum wood, it bakes a pizza - and it can fit seven - in a mere 3 minutes. Bam. Done.

And yes, it's darn good, Johnson says.

"The dough has a lot of moisture in it. You put that in there at a very high temperature, the water immediately evaporates, it puffs the dough. You get a real bubbly, white crust with a crispy exterior and a chewy interior."

Fire Artisan Pizza opened in July at 517 Sherman Ave. Johnson, along with two partners, is an owner and the daily operations manager.

Business has been good, with individuals, couples and parties stopping in for lunch and dinner, or just beer and wine at the bar.

"The locals have really supported us well. It's amazing how good the reviews are," Johnson said.

The idea behind Fire Artisan Pizza was simple enough: Do pizzas, and do them right.

The menu lists just 10 pizzas, including "Billy," which features goat cheese, roasted red pepper, Kalamata olives, tomato sauce, and fresh arugula; "Crimini," made of crimini mushrooms, thyme, garlic olive oil and mozzarella cheese; and "Pesto," which is house made Pesto, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, pine nuts and fresh basil.

Ingredients are the finest and freshest they can bring in, Johnson said.

There is one size and pizzas range from $10 to $15.

"Everything is done in this oven," Johnson said.

There are also appetizers, like spinach and gorgonzola salad, packed portobella and cured olives.

Fire Artisan Pizza is developing a lunch menu that will include a half pizza and half salad for $10.

The wine and beer menu features imported, hard-to-find beers including Unibroue "Terrible" Dark Ale, Chimay "Grand Reserve" and Anderson Valley "Brother David's Double," as well as usual favorites like Alaskan Amber, Deschutes "Mirror Pond," and Bitter Root Brewing "Nut Brown Ale."

"It's a key part of our offerings, the unique microbeer," he said.

The decor is a mix of old and new, modern and rustic, the brainstorm of Hurtado Hissong Design Group, hired by Johnson and partners.

Contemporary lamps are next to barn wood from Montana. Poured concrete is under a clean, white bar top. A beam ceiling looms over white chairs and brown tables.

The photography of Jed Conklin, which features scenes from Seattle, decorates the walls in large, black and white pictures and creates a gallery effect.

"You put these things together and it works," Johnson said. "It's kind of fun."

Fire Artisan Pizza has 12 full-time employees and a seating capacity of 70. It is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, with later hours on weekends. New fall hours will begin soon. A grand opening celebration is also being planned.

Johnson, who has experience in catering and restaurants, worked at Nighthawk Radiology in Coeur d'Alene before venturing into the pizza business.

He loves the creativity of teaming with staff and "thinking about what we can put on a pizza."

Monday, for instance, they came up with a lamb potato pizza that, he says, was excellent.

"The crust is a perfect blank canvas for really flavorful good food and that's what we try to put on it," Johnson said. "It's fun to see what comes out of that oven."

For more information, call 676-1PIE.