- 6/19/2025
Today, Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef William Joo, owner of Pizzeria Sei in Los Angeles. Serving Neapolitan pizza with a Japanese twist, Pizzeria Sei offers an 11-course pizza omakase once a month, a style of dining traditionally used for sushi.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Pizzeria SEI is Japanese Neapolitan inspired pizzeria in Los Angeles.
00:06The pizza is based on the Neapolitan pizza but the toppings and the technique makes it unique.
00:11Once in a month, I make pizza omakase. It's 11 course pizza tasting menu.
00:17Normally you'd see this at the sushi restaurant but I do for pizza.
00:21I don't think there's any other pizzeria in America doing this.
00:24Pizza omakase allowed me to experiment and be creative.
00:28I want to push the boundaries of pizza making.
00:38Hi guys, my name is William, chef and owner of Pizzeria SEI.
00:43Right now it's 8 a.m. and we have omakase day today.
00:46We have a lot of things to do. Come on in.
00:51As you can see, it's a very small space.
00:54It's only 18 seats because we want to keep the quality consistent.
00:59First thing I have to do today is make sourdough.
01:03Our omakase day is very different because we actually have nine pizza and then we have to prepare about five different doughs.
01:12So I use everything sourdough based on the fried stuff.
01:16They fry in the fryer and then gives the dough a little more flavor than yeast based dough.
01:21The starter has a pleasant smell, not too overly sour.
01:25It's only three years old.
01:27People talk about like 300 years old, but like usually when you bring the starter to the certain area, the local bacteria take over.
01:34So it doesn't really feel a huge difference 300 year or three years old.
01:40I'm mixing the flour and water and then starter just to make it shaggy dough.
01:45Then we're gonna keep this wrapped and covered.
01:49We're gonna ferment this at the certain temperature at certain hours just to make it really digestible.
01:56Now we're done with the sourdough starter.
01:58We have to lit up the fire on the pizza oven.
02:00Let's go.
02:01Here's our beautiful oven from Italy.
02:06The pizza oven is on all night, just covered.
02:10Every day in the morning, I just come and then just take out the dead ashes and the fire up with the new wood and gas actually.
02:19I use almond wood because it's very common in Southern California.
02:24We're gonna heat up the oven with the gas together with the wood and then turn off when it's ready.
02:29And then on the surface, we only use the wood.
02:32I think wood gives something very characteristic.
02:36Just like gives the extra radiation heat that cooks the pizza better.
02:40A lot of Neapolitan pizza plates, they go up to 900 to 1000, but I like my crust a little bit crispier and then dry in the oven a little bit longer than traditional Neapolitan.
02:50So we keep it at 800, 850 max.
02:53My pizza is inspired from Japanese Neapolitan.
02:57This style come from Serencon owner, Susumokaki Numa-san.
03:01He was trying to learn the pizza, but nobody taught him on the Naples.
03:05He learned by himself and developed his own style.
03:08So I started on that take and then improved every day, every day to make sure I'm developing my own style,
03:15which is more airy and light, though, compared to like more like a crispy, chewy dough.
03:20While oven is heating up, I'm gonna check up the cheese.
03:23Today, we got delivered fresh cheese from the Caserta, called El Casificio Casolare.
03:31I actually went there last year and then met the owner.
03:35Their buffalo is really happy.
03:37They're getting massaged in the farm, and then the way they process it make it really special product.
03:43We use this on the Margherita Special, which has tomato, basil, and this amazing cheese.
03:50Whenever I get the fresh one, I have to check, because when you move the stuff from the airplane,
03:56because of the osmosis on the height, the flavor draws out to the whey.
04:01So I have to make sure how many hours I'm gonna drain this, because whey is actually flavoring here.
04:08If I drain too much, the cheese can be quite bland.
04:12If I drain the right amount, the flavor is amazing.
04:16We can see the cheese inside has quite water.
04:19This cheese looks like we can drain about four hours and then start using it.
04:24Because they're handmade, sometimes it comes a little undersalted.
04:28Then I'll salt the pizza itself a little more.
04:31Okay, now we cut everything.
04:33We're gonna drain these guys a couple hours in the fridge.
04:36I'm gonna have a meeting with my chefs to discuss the omakase preps.
04:40On normal service day, we don't need a prep list, but omakase day, because we have a lot of complex items, we actually have to write down everything.
04:50Menu this time is nine pizza and one salad and then one dessert.
04:55They're gonna do like a knife forks, I do the dough.
04:58So they're checking what kind of prep list for menu item, because every omakase, I try to change the menu.
05:05We're on good shape. Let's have fun.
05:08Now it's almost 11. It's time for me to prep the different omakase toppings.
05:13We're gonna start marinating the fresh grated tomato for Kelly Margheritas.
05:18This was actually inspired from the Spain tapa dish, bangun tomate.
05:23It'll have a crispy bottom, almost like a bruschetta with a prosciutto and then the buffalo mozilla curd.
05:30It's like a very like California, like melting pot all together.
05:33So we're gonna drain this tomato like a couple minutes in a chinoa and then after we drain it dry,
05:40it's ready for marinating with salt and the herbs, garlic and olive oil.
05:45Very high quality olive oil from Tuscany.
05:49Sourcing on the pizza is very important because if you put the bad ingredients on the pizza,
05:54the dough just takes all over and then you don't taste anything.
05:57We're gonna cover this tomato just to make sure it's not oxidized.
06:01And then we're gonna move on to the shallotfish's wasp cream.
06:05This one, we're gonna have it with caviar potato pizza.
06:08On there, we're gonna have crispy potato pecorino and then fior di latte, the mozzarella from Italy.
06:14We have shallots from the local farmer's market.
06:17They're really sweet and they're not overly spicy.
06:20I like to use karcher butter for the sauces.
06:23I think it gives a little more umami than just using a regular butters.
06:26We're gonna deglaze with the dashi that we made yesterday.
06:30We're gonna put the cream and then we're gonna let it simmer for 20-30 minutes and then we're gonna blend this.
06:37While this is reducing, I'm gonna work on the next topping which is for the mala garden.
06:43This is a locally grown cherry tomato.
06:46We put this with lamb sausage, cream fresh, smoked provola, pecorino, parmigiano, reggiano.
06:53Some guests say it tastes like a lamb shawarma.
06:55Some guests say it tastes like a Chinese skewer.
06:58I like those like complexity like in one bite.
07:01The sweet tray is really hot.
07:03Put the cherry tomato on there.
07:07A little bit of olive oil, garlic and herbs.
07:11The key point is just to soften the skin of the cherry tomato.
07:14Make sure it's not like chewy when you eat the pizzas.
07:17Here's our lamb sausage.
07:19We have to pre-cook the sausage because Neapolitan pizza you only cook for 90 seconds.
07:24There's no way you can cook this in the 90 seconds on the top of the pizza with the other toppings.
07:29I lift the lamb sausage to touch the smoke.
07:32I want a little bit more smokey to get that gaminess.
07:36We're gonna massage the bell pepper with the salt and olive oil and off to the oven.
07:41Okay, now it's completely charred.
07:44We're gonna cool this with the covered plastic.
07:47Once it's steamed inside, about an hour later, we're gonna peel it.
07:52Make sure it's like clean and doesn't have a burnt part anymore.
07:55That's it.
07:56I'm done with the wood fire prep and then we have the most important thing to do.
08:01The dough prep.
08:02Let's go make a dough.
08:06Okay, now we're gonna check the pH of our pre-ferments.
08:10Pre-ferments is you just mix the flour, water, yeast, and then just start day ahead
08:15to make sure it has enough acidity to strengthen the gluten.
08:19This way you don't need to ferment your flour three days.
08:23So pre-ferment, we use only biga.
08:25Biga is a little stiff pre-ferment.
08:28Due to space, we cannot put a lot of doughs inside,
08:31so we have to figure out the way to make the dough better in a short amount of time.
08:36pH looking awesome.
08:38It's almost there, and then we're gonna wait a little bit more
08:41and then start auto-leasing the dough.
08:43Now it's the dough time.
08:45We're going to make a double-cooked dough base.
08:47We fry and then re-bake it in the electric oven.
08:51It's more hydrate than our regular dough, so it is more fluffy, light, airy texture.
08:56But because it's double-cooked, overall it's more crispy.
08:59This is the dough that I'm gonna use for the ragu genovese Asian style.
09:03So you taste like a ragu, but also you taste beef noodle soup from Taiwan.
09:08And we're gonna pair with the smoked mozzarella and parmigiano.
09:13We're gonna top this with the Thai basil salsa verde,
09:16which is spiked with fish sauce.
09:18Right now we have about 6,000 water, 10 kilograms of flour,
09:22so we're gonna start auto-leasing.
09:24The auto-leasing is literally incorporating the dough like this.
09:29It's not really developed or knitted though,
09:32but water and the flour combines and then develops the gluten more faster.
09:37I see reading as 18 Celsius.
09:39Then after 30 minutes of auto-leasing, it'll rise up to 20.5,
09:44and then we're gonna put the biga inside.
09:46Okay, so now the biga is ready.
09:49It's not sticky, but it has an amazing alcohol smell.
09:53We're gonna divide the biga and then add it to the dough.
09:57Every dough has a biga base except the sourdough.
10:00For this particular recipe, I use about 50%.
10:04So biga does provide acidity in the dough,
10:07which helps gluten to form quicker.
10:10We're gonna put the water inside to make 60% hydration.
10:14I'm making sure the temperature is where I want it
10:18because once you mix it, there's no way back.
10:20So you have to be really paying attention.
10:23The dough making has to be like almost zen.
10:25The temperature is what I want.
10:27If you put the water at the same time, it cannot absorb.
10:31But like if you do this way, you can put a little more water.
10:34When you hydrate more dough, you get the very light and airy products.
10:39Also crisp because you have to force cook longer than the low hydration doughs.
10:44Now it's getting to the nice ball shape.
10:48We're gonna scrape off the excess water or flour just to make sure everything is incorporated.
10:53And then we're gonna put the sea salt.
10:56And then we're gonna mix no more than one minute.
10:59Salt contracts the gluten and then if you just knead it, knead it.
11:03It's gonna get dense.
11:05Okay, now our dough is ready.
11:08As you can see, it's really strong, but nice.
11:11Well hydrated.
11:13A little stretch and fold here.
11:15It gives a gluten strength.
11:17You have to put a little bit of a more tension.
11:23Because it's very loose after proof.
11:25It's very light dough.
11:27So the good gluten structure is that you can stretch out the dough without ripping.
11:32You can go like paper thin.
11:34There are six more dough that I'm gonna make.
11:36Let's go.
11:38When I was young, I wanted to be a sushi chef.
11:41That's the reason why I like to do omakase.
11:43Because I get to try different things that I never try on the regular services.
11:48It's really joy to learn something new.
11:50And I love learning.
11:52It's 3.30.
11:53It's close to the opening.
11:55I need to check a lot of things before.
11:57So let's check all together.
11:59Every day, basil tastes different.
12:01Dough tastes different.
12:02Tomato sauce different.
12:03Caper is a little bit salty side today.
12:05I'm gonna rinse out a little bit and then just make sure the pizza is balanced.
12:10This is my final routine before we open.
12:12We're gonna make a pizza that is very simple.
12:15I eat pizza every single day.
12:17Especially omakase day.
12:19Because I have to figure out what is wrong, what is not right.
12:22So I'm gonna stretch the pizzas.
12:24This pinching style is like a Japanese-Napolitan style.
12:28What I'm trying to achieve is this crispy, dense, chewy part and then super airy part.
12:33So you have a little more dynamic on the crust.
12:35So each heart is a little more adding the smokiness.
12:38And then even in Japan, every shop stretches different.
12:41So this is my stretch.
12:43Sometimes the tomato sauce is strong.
12:46You need to put not too much.
12:48After tasting everything, I think this amount is appropriate.
12:52Basil inside.
12:54Buffalo cheese.
12:55Little bit of olive oil.
12:57We're gonna put a little olive oil on the crust.
13:00That's just like not to get dried out.
13:02Because we cook a little bit longer than traditional Napolitan.
13:05You first cook with the aggressive heat inside the oven.
13:09And then you have to dry out at the entrance.
13:12Make sure it's crisp.
13:13And then the inside of the crumb is actually properly dry.
13:16Not raw.
13:17Say number six in Italian.
13:19That's why it's six pieces.
13:21And we're gonna finish with maravaglia olive oil.
13:24This is a well-liven dough, in my opinion.
13:27It's properly dried.
13:29Flaky like a croissant.
13:30But also very light.
13:32It's not doughy, chewy at all.
13:35Yeah.
13:36The flavor is really good.
13:38Maybe like a 3% more tomato sauce.
13:40I think that's a good maravaglia.
13:42Okay, it's 4 o'clock.
13:44Our servers are arriving.
13:45We got the people at the back preparing for the omakase.
13:49I feel excited.
13:50The guests are coming in.
13:51I get to meet the new cool people.
13:53So we're ready for rock and roll.
13:56Time for you to get out.
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