Ibrahim “Abe” Abuhilal takes a fresh pizza from his wood fired oven after less than two minutes cooking time. Photo by Neil Farrell
Morro Bay’s favorite Palestinian farmer-chef is back in business.
Ibrahim “Abe” Abuhilal, who had the Grape Leaf Deli in the 800 block of Main St., for nine years, is now cooking up some goodies at the Morro Bay Coffee Co., 948 Morro Bay Blvd.
Abe’s Wood-Fired Pizza is open daily from 5-9 p.m. offering a variety of authentic Italian style pies using fresh ingredients raised on Abe’s local farm.
He flash cooks his pizzas in a portable wood-fired oven that reaches temperatures over 980 degrees. That means he can cook a pizza ready-to-eat in less than two minutes, constantly turning the handmade dough as it quickly cooks.
“I’m a farmer,” he explains while cooking a pie for a reporter. “I use what we grow on the pizza.”
His ingredients are all organic and Abe’s a certified organic farmer with a little spread in Chorro Valley. There he grows vegetables, raises sheep and makes his own Mozzarella cheese.
These are not the American style of pizza one can find in pizza chains and small, pizza joints. Each is formed by hand and made with homemade dough, owing to Abe’s attending cooking school in Italy. They’re not all that round either.
According to his website (see: www.abeswoodfiredpizza.com), “Chef and owner Ibrahim ‘Abe’ Abuhilal grew up in a place where food was shared with everyone. His father was a meat lover from Jerusalem who married the butcher’s daughter, and his mother — a chef from Jaffa — filled the family table with fish, garden greens, and laughter.
‘In our culture, we eat with everyone,’ Abe says. The whole town cooks together.’”
One of the nicest, most-upbeat men you’ll ever meet, Abe’s an educated man, too. “He earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Jordan and later completed a Ph.D. in viticulture through studies in Sardinia and at U.C. Davis. It was in Italy that he fell in love with Neapolitan pizza — simple ingredients, handmade dough, and the joy of feeding people well.”
As patrons of the former Grape Leaf Deli could probably attest, he is a generous fellow as well.
For example, when heavy rains caused a stormwater catch basin in Los Osos to fail and sent a torrent of mud flowing down into a neighborhood and inundating numerous homes, Abe towed his trailer-oven over and fed the volunteers who turned out to help clean up the mess — for free.
It’s an example of his life philosophy. “God give to me and I want to give back,” he said.
The new location shared with the coffee company and adjacent to the Roundabout, was kind of hidden behind some tall vegetation, which the City recently cut down, opening up the coffee shop to passing motorists.
Abe said the improved visibility is making a big difference for both businesses.
But there’s a lingering issue that he sees as a problem — the continued closure of Hwy 1 through Big Sur to through traffic most-recently by the Regent’s Slide.
The closure of Hwy 1 is hurting Morro Bay’s tourism businesses, he said. “Now,” he added, “maybe it will reopen in March. It’s killing us.”
Caltrans has set a March 2026 tentative date to have the massive Regent’s Slide fully repaired and Hwy 1 open again to through traffic.
When times are good, upwards of 2 million people a year travel the world famous, scenic highway bringing tourists from across the planet to the Central Coast.
It’s the No. 1 industry in SLO County, especially the North Coast communities from Morro Bay to Ragged Point, as well as the tiny hamlets along the Big Sur Coast into Carmel and Monterey.
Meanwhile, for those of us who already live in Paradise, Abe is ready to fire up the wood oven and cook up a simple menu that includes calzones, Caprese, hummus, Tabouli and baba ganoush, for take out or to eat in. And there are also, of course, some delicious coffees to wash it down with.
For dessert he’s offering a marshmallow pizza — pizza made with Nutella chocolate (hazelnut spread) with roasted marshmallows. He’s got a Nutella & fruit pizza made with seasonal fruit, too. And you might just get a roasted marshmallow treat from Abe to enjoy while you wait, which only takes about three seconds in the wood-fired oven.
The full menu is posted on the website (www.abeswoodfirepizza.com). Call 805-225-1812 to order for pick up or just drop in from 5-9 p.m. daily. It only takes a couple of minutes to get a fresh taste of Italy.
