It turns out that despite some confusion about this, restaurants that use wood-burning ovens and grills for cooking are exempt from the wood-fire ban on Spare the Air days, because, of course, complying would put them out of business.

The Air Quality Management District's website states that businesses aren't exempt, and this neighbor of Kokkari's was making it his mission for a while to document the smoke coming from their chimney on Spare the Air days past.

But CBS 5 clears this up for everyone who may be confused, especially given the 20 Spare the Air Days we've had so far this season, and the prevalence of wood-fire cooking in today's restaurant scene. Turns out the rule is not so hard and fast.

They spoke with the BAAQMD's Tom Flannagan who basically says that restaurant ovens are a drop in the bucket when compared to homes. "Wood burning ovens represent a very small fraction of the overall wood burning devices in the Bay Area. We have 1.4 million fireplaces throughout the Bay Area."

It only feels like there are a million wood-burning-oven restaurants these days...

[CBS 5]