R O B B R I S T O W

After culinary school Rob set out to be a baker and headed to Las Vegas where he worked in the pastry/bread shops at Bellagio, Wynn/Encore, and Mandalay Bay. While in Vegas, he discovered Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana and fell in love with the culture and techniques of Neapolitan pizza. Rob spent the next several years working under master pizzaiolo and mentor Carmine D’Amato. Over the next decade Rob held head pizza maker positions at Scott Conant’s D.O.C.G Enoteca at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, “Pizzeria DaMarco” in Bethesda MD, and corporate head pizza maker at Dallas Texas based Cane Rosso.

Rob spent 2 years working as culinary director for Marra Forni pizza ovens where he trained clients on using the wood, gas, and rotating ovens as well as consulted with many start-up restaurants and travelled extensively representing the company at food/equipment shows including the Las Vegas Pizza Expo, Boston Pizza Festival, and StarChefs Congress in Brooklyn, NY.

In 2015 Rob moved to Austin, Tx where he spent a year and a half cooking in the pit room of the famed Franklin Barbecue under James Beard Award winner Aaron Franklin. He later returned home to Chesapeake City, where Bristow Live Fire began in 2018