Hi,
@stevedolinsky here, PCF LA Founder. We just finished our 4th annual event
@laliveofficial , and I think I finally have a better handle on what “L.A. Style” pizza is. Unfortunately, pizza people, the media, etc love to pigeonhole things and make you define what a regional style is so it fits neatly in a box. But NYC style could mean foldable wedges from a 20” pie or a thick square-cut Sicilian or a crispier grandma; Chicago style could mean stuffed, tavern, deep dish or deep pan. To me, L.A. style can be summarized as creative, collaborative and multi-cultural. What do I mean? Well, in the third pic here, I’m showing you a Roman/Sicilian crust topped with Italian braising greens, vadouvan curry and bechamel from
@nonnamercato . It joined several other crazy-creative slices this weekend featuring pesto cream, seasonal peaches or guanciale. Collaborations are all too common in L.A. as well. Case in point the second pic, from
@primepizzala which made a fantastic butter chicken pizza with an assist from
@badmaashla - suffused with cardamon and fenugreek. How often do you see that?! Last year,
@speak_cheezy did a collab with
@lbfoodcoma and created a Cambodian influenced pizza with coconut milk. And that brings me to multi-cultural awareness: this weekend, we had a banh xeo-meets-Neapolitan from
@piizaasb and a carne asada pizza from
@mexiforno . L.A. pizzaiolos are not bound by tradition or 100 year old rules like they are in NYC, Philly or Chicago. No one judges you if you make yours “upside down” or place room temp sauce on post-bake or combine Central Milling with Caputo and crank it up to 83% hydration. Everyone is baking with an eye toward optimal crunch or chew (and ratio). So when someone asks me “what is L.A. style pizza?” I will answer this way: L.A. style is creative, collaborative and multi-cultural. Thank you to those who came out to support us and raise $10k for
@ccaplosangeles and we’re already working on next year. We ❤️ L.A.
