In 1989, when Andrea Mugnaini began importing open hearth wood-fired Italian ovens to the United States, food had not yet become a national obsession. There was no Food Network, and few celebrity chefs. People said Italian ovens were a risky investment. The Italian manufacturer thought a country used to simply pressing "start" on a microwave oven wouldn't be interested in lighting a fire to start dinner in an open hearth oven.

Yet, despite many sleepless nights, Mugnaini believed she'd found a product capable of creating unique flavors, as well as communal experience, that would appeal to cooks. Building a customer base out of her home office, now, nearly three decades later, Mugnaini Imports has made fans out of world-class chefs—as well as home cooks from Canada, the US and Mexico.