Best Bite: Wood-Fired Salmon at Seven Oaks

Our ancestors’ cookery was sparked by fire, and some of their better inventions to harness it—the wood-burning oven and grill—have withstood the test of time. Chef Thorsten Stein, also a baker and pizzaiolo with authentic Neapolitan training from Italy’s greats, first perfected this brand of pyrotechnics to acclaim in his native Germany. Now he has brought his fireworks to Seven Oaks, a restaurant he opened last year in Cape Coral. “Firing up” anything is a catchphrase, but here’s how it looks in Stein’s world. A slab of salmon, grilled over heat rising from oak planks, is placed alongside dainty toasted pearls of pasta. The explosive finish comes from fennel and leeks, cooked down to the point of melting and then popped in a 900-degree stone oven powered by those same aromatic logs to sop up the trademark smokiness.

1227 Miramar St., Cape Coral, 257-2209, sevenoaksrestaurant.com