On a sunny weekend at LA Live in Los Angeles, the air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked pizza – and it was with great excitement we ascended to the Exhibition Deck for the first-ever Pizza City Fest LA on April 29 and 30, 2023, an event celebrating our favorite food!
Here are 10 Things we Learned at Pizza City Fest in Los Angeles!
There were more than two dozen vendors, twenty of which were restaurant vendors providing at least two pizzas for attendees to sample, from simple cheese pizzas to pan pizzas and a variety of unique toppings and combinations. A handful of other vendors were providing products such as Ooni pizza ovens, and others providing toppings to explore – and plenty of beverage locations. It might be the only time I’ve been at a place with an open bar where the lines for food were busier than they were for drinks!
This is why we chose to buy VIP tickets, both to ensure we had plenty of time to try pizzas, to talk to the owners/chefs, and to make sure we could attend all of the talks. We found this worked great because we didn’t have to fight to do any of these things!
After picking up our badges and having a welcome toast, we got down to the business of eating! Despite a grandiose effort, there was no way we could sample the 40+ pizzas on offer, even a bite at a time. But we’re happy to share some of the highlights with you.
But first, let’s talk about some of the great things we learned!
Pizza City Fest wasn’t just about packing away as much pizza and drinks as you could in 5 hours. One of the highlights of the festival was the speaker series – and there were some fantastic talks by some of the most inspiring pizza gurus you could meet. And we’d like to share:
10 things we learned at Pizza City Fest!
1. The Worst Thing that Will Happen Is Pizza
Evan Funke (Felix, Mother Wolf) is not only a renowned chef but also a very entertaining speaker! So it was with both steely-eyed aplomb and a mischievous grin that he shared the wisdom that no matter what we do when we make pizza, no matter how wrong it goes, we’re still going to be eating pizza when it’s done. That’s a wonderful endorsement to beginners and pros alike – just go for it! This theme rang true throughout every conversation!
2. Make Your Own Pizza and Be a Story Teller
It was really interesting to hear from several speakers today that they believe pizza making is an art of storytelling about the maker. Daniele Uditi (Pizzana), the author of Ricettario Vol. 1, passionately explained how he believes a pizza maker (even one from Naples like himself) needs to develop their own individual pizza to express their own self. We found this gem inspiring as we always see new forks in the road!
3. Make Pizza Every Day
Whew, now this sounds ambitious! But even though people like Daniele can regale us with his story of making bread and pizza back when he was nine years old, it was stunning when Sam Facchini (Metro Pizza) shared that he’s been making pizza for over 20,000 days! Since 1968! While that may be impractical for any home chef, what it does tell us is that these super-stars of pizza have earned their place. And our own personal greatness in making pizza is going to come with practice!
4. You Can Make Amazing Pizza at Home
Both Sam and his partner, John Arena (Metro Pizza), believe that truly great pizza can be made at home and did a 40-minute demonstration on how to do that with pan pizza and shared a number of key tips (use Crisco on the pan to hold the dough in place, don’t flatten the dough when you shape it, extend it – guide it), the most important was take time. Slow it all down because…
5. Dough is Like a Baby
Handle it gently. Don’t degass it. Watch the temperature throughout your preparation – don’t let the mixing process heat it up. Massage it (“piano” it) with oil.
6. Dough Senses Fear
This was again Evan’s fun quote telling us that only practice is going to give us the skills to be confident in what we are doing. But it also echoes his earlier comment that the worst thing that can happen is pizza – so enjoy the process! Learn it, experience it, and experiment!
7. Give the Dough Rules
So maybe the dough isn’t always a baby – maybe sometimes it’s 2-year-old! But being strict and consistent in the conditions you make it in (or at least logging them) is only going to translate into more consistency. We really enjoyed Noel Brohner’s (Slow Rise Pizza) advice to log everything from the temperature and humidity in your kitchen to the temperature of your flour and dough as you make it. Discovering why your dough did something today that it didn’t do last time could be as simple as a change in temperature. For example, Sam was insistent that he likes the dough 68 degrees coming out of the mixer and to rest between 70 and 72 degrees for his ideal pizza – and if it’s not, he adapts the proofing time. With 20,000 days of experience, who are we to argue?
8. Troubleshoot Problems
Andy Kadin (Bub and Grandma’s) echoed the need for perseverance in perfecting your pizza craft. Only through logging the conditions and troubleshooting why something did what it did will you discover and understand your pizza. Folks like Sam and Daniele, who have decades of daily pizza experience, have paid their dues to learn. But a methodical approach to recording “what happened?” is going to help you learn your own pizza story.
9. Stay The Course
We asked Sam if when we stumble on something new and exciting – do we explore that new road. Sam’s advice was to stay the course and finish what you’re working on. Get the pizza you are mastering today RIGHT before experimenting with a new pre-starter or trying a new recipe. But keep those ideas – because when you need a little inspiration (and no one’s coming over to try your new pizza), there’s nothing like exploring the unknown a little!
10. Greatness Feels So Far Away, But It’s Right Next Door
Chris Bianco (Pizzeria Bianco) attended remotely and discussed battling challenges and adversity. His statement that “greatness feels so far away, but it could be right next door” speaks to how perseverance is needed – but your own great pizza is right around the corner. So even while today you might settle for “pizza” because something didn’t go quite right, tomorrow you too can achieve “OMG PIZZZZZAAAAA!!!!”.
So stick with it!
Tasting Notes from the Vendors
Before, after, and in between the panel discussion, it was time for pizza tasting. The vendors had brought out their A-game, and there were many varieties of pizza to try.
There wasn’t a bad pizza to be found, in our opinion (as we’ve learned, the worst thing that can happen is pizza!), but there were a few highlights to note.
The Crusts
Although there were a number of standard crusts, pan pizzas were quite popular amongst the vendors. Slice House and Riip, in particular, both had a lovely crust!
The Sauce
Another surprise was the number of pizzas that were bianco (meaning without tomato sauce and served with white cheese). La Sorted’s wasn’t just tasty, but they had quite a fun box on display!
But perhaps our favorite unique sauce was the green pea-based sauce found on the pizza by Dtown, which will be opening up soon!
Toppings
Hot honey is apparently still a rage in pizza today. However, what was exciting was the marvelous display by The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills! We found some exciting toppings to experiment with!
The Unexpected
The winner in the unexpected category was certainly Pi’L.A. With umami flavorings from Japan infused in their bread bites and pizzas, they really brought something different and exciting!
Thanks For Joining Us!
Thank you for joining us on the Ten Things We Learned at Pizza City Fest! We thank Steve Dolinsky for going out on a limb to bring the very first Pizza City Fest to Los Angeles!
Ciao until next year!
Todd’s cooking skills have revolved around the grill since about age 12, when he developed a love for grilling and took over for Mom at the BBQ. He worked at Wendy’s and at Earl’s Tin Palace (a restaurant chain in Canada) but never really did any sort of baking…until he and Heather started making pizza together! Now he’s often making dough in the mornings and pizza in the evenings.