But this is the thrill of pizza – the way it constantly evolves through digressions, quirks, anomalies and adaptations. Due to the overlapping work of the people who cook it day in, day out.
Mr. Joo, who emigrated from South Korea as a teenager, learned to make pizza at Pizzana, Daniele Uditi’s Los Angeles restaurant, which makes beautiful, sometimes even cheeky neo-Neapolitan pies. Later he studied the techniques of Mr. Kakinuma online and observed videos from Pizza Studio Tamaki and Savoy Pizza.
At Sei, he buys produce — basil, mushrooms, garlic, eggs — from the Santa Monica Farmers Market twice a week and works with a yeast dough that slowly rises over the course of two days. His pizzas reflect both of the neo-Neapolitan styles he studied, but they’re also not quite, still grafting to his.
The salty margherita has a juicy, but not soggy center, and the Bismarck comes with a soft to runny egg. My favorite is the white pie, the raw dough that is pulled across the counter to shine, topped only with a dollop of thick cream and fior di latte mozzarella, freckles with candied lemon and obscenely large glugs of olive oil.
I’ve eaten this pizza at the sun-baked metal table on the sidewalk, and in my car hurtling down the Santa Monica Freeway – a slice is just about structurally enough for this. But the best way to enjoy it is at the counter, straight from the oven, off the skin and on a plate, crust full of steam, still sizzling with life.
Pizzeria Sei, 8781 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, 424-279-9800, pizzeriasei.com