The first time I came to FireWorks: Sustainable Fine Dining, I expected a sports bar.

It was Superbowl Sunday 2008, and the loud neon sign had convinced me that this was where the stellar sports action was to be enjoyed.

I was unaware that the touted fireworks the sign referred to were the kind that sparked inside your mouth.

The heart of FireWorks lies in the commanding presence of its massive, Southwestern-resonating Earthen Oven. Since 2002, the oven has been fed by owners Intaba and Ocean Liff-Anderson.

“A very efficient kitchen helps us offer organic food at a price that is comparable,” Ocean said.

FireWorks’ unassuming green building, located across the parking lot from the hip restaurant landowners at Corvallis’ iconic First Alternative Co-op, bring culinary and artistic delights to the city’s oft-forgotten south side of town.

Ocean, a Mid-Valley native, met his wife Intaba as she studied macrobiotic culinary arts in New York. The restaurant was originally called Intaba’s, and featured all-vegan offerings. Eventually, as they expanded their menu, they settled on the name FireWorks.

For the last two years, the restaurant and cozy bar have featured the highest quality local ingredients, including free-range chicken, Moroccan Mezze and lamb from Cattail Creek ranch in Junction City.

“We have to keep fresh tomatoes for the pizzas,” Ocean said, “so we have to go outside the 100 mile radius sometimes.”

One menu feature that may catch visitors by surprise is the selection of rare wines from the Rogue Valley’s Chatteau Lorraine: Huxelrabe, a German white with reportedly only five acres planted in the United States, and Baco Noir, a very rare, bold red French hybrid.

The outdoor seating is perhaps the best in town. It has the feel of a semi-enclosed yurt, with abundant plant life and cement walls. The best seat in the house is a booth of contoured artificial rock, next to the fountain of collected drain water that hustles past the stone Buddah sculpture on rainy nights.

Corvallis locals come to FireWorks not only for the fine food and wine, but also because it has gained a solid reputation as an intimate music venue and art gallery.

Each weekend, music as organic as the locally grown food served at the restaurant is heard at FireWorks. Bluegrass, folk, blues and eclectic gypsy jazz are commonly heard, sometimes within the same weekend.

About every other month, new art is featured on the walls.

An upcoming featured presentation for the summer of 2009 is the weaving art of “La Vida Nueva" Zapotec Women's Collective, which is a women's weaving cooperative from the Zapotec community of Teotitlan del Valle, in Mexico's southern state of Oaxaca. According to the FireWorks web site, this traditional indigenous community is “known world wide” for its long line of weavers. The celebration of this art will culminate in a benefit-party for the weavers, to be held on September 23, from 6-11 p.m.

There are many other occasions for which FireWorks is a suitable venue—just don’t try to watch the Superbowl there.