FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A Fresno chef has found a way to make authentic Neapolitan pizza with a real wood oven - inside a food truck. 23-year-old Christian Tufenkjian is the owner of Nuovo Wood Fired Pizza. For the past year, he has been making wood-fired pizzas in a trailer - and living out his dream in the process. "I was kind of battling these two things," Tufenkjian said. "[I thought] I can put a lot of time into trying to get into dental school or kind of see this opportunity over here." Before making up his mind to pursue pizzas, Tufenkjian says he was just a guy with some free time, some bricks, and an idea. His story began during the COVID-19 pandemic. "A friend of mine [was] tearing down their fireplace," Tufenkjian said. "It's a brick fireplace and they've all these bricks." Tufenkjian says he remembers seeing the red bricks he'd typically seen in fireplaces - but also distinct yellow bricks. "I'm like, 'what are these for?'" Tufenkjian said. "He's like, 'Oh, these are fire bricks that can withstand high heat.'" Tufenkjian says at that moment the gears in his mind started turning, "Maybe I'll build a fireplace in my backyard." Are these Thanksgiving staples worth the wait in Fresno? As he researched building a backyard fireplace, Tufenkjian says he found other people working on passion projects during the pandemic - and that some people were building woodfired ovens too. "I was like, oh my gosh, like that pizza that I've had for [years] that I've enjoyed," Tufenkjian said. "I can just have that in my backyard now." Tufenkjian says while he was researching what he could do with the bricks and how a woodfire oven could hypothetically be built in a backyard he ended up at his local Lowe's. "I was into hardware and stuff," Tufenkjian said. "But then I was standing in line one day and I see a guy with fire bricks." Tufenkjian says he started a conversation with the man and discovered that the customer in line next to him was also building a woodfire oven. "I meet this guy and, and we're talking," Tufenkjian said. "He's an older gentleman called Bruce, and he helped me so much at the beginning." Tufenkjian says Bruce turned out to be a nearby neighbor who and an experienced mason who offered to mentor him. With Bruce's help and his parents' approval, Tufenkjian was able to build his first woodfire oven and go on to cooking the pizza he had longed for. Tufenkjian says his fascination with woodfire pizza specifically came at a young age, when he first tried it at Pismo Beach. "It must have been when I was 11 or 12," Tufenkjian said. "But that's how impactful it was. I still remember it. I don't think I was ever like really a fan of pizza." Fan or not, Tufenkjian says he dedicated himself to his new found craft of cooking pizza like a man "obsessed." "I have a background in biology and science. So [my approach] was very scientific method," Tufenkjian said. "Documenting, journaling like the dough and just getting a grasp for all these different elements." Tufenkjian says after enough time, he had finally made a product he was consistently happy with and comfortable selling. So he bought a truck and went to work establishing himself as food vendor. "I assembled everything inside, got it passed health inspection," Tufenkjian said. "We built [the oven] outside and then forklifted it in." Now, Tufenkjian has been serving up slices for a year with the wood-fired oven inside the food truck. He says he's just getting started. "When I first started my goal was not to open a food truck. My goal was to open a restaurant," Tufenkjian said. "I don't think Nuovo has reached like 25% of its potential."