Outside of Italy, Japan and a short-lived pop-up in the Philippines, the idea of a pizza omakase, or chef’s tasting menu, hasn’t exactly caught on across the globe. Until quite recently, Americans needed to travel outside of the country to experience the likes of Pizza Bar on 38th at the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo and Pepe in Grani just outside Naples.
Now, L.A. is home to one of the country’s only pizza tasting menus, courtesy of William Joo, the Korean American pizzaiolo behind Pizzeria Sei in Pico-Robertson. The so-called $150 “omakasei” menu, which debuted last month, is slated to run every other Tuesday evening at 7pm, with reservations for each subsequent tasting menu generally dropping on Resy at noon the following day. Each menu includes a rotating half-dozen-plus parade of Tokyo-style Neapolitan slices that might be inspired by everything from Pizza Hut to some of the world’s best pizzerias.
I’m going to be honest here: I’ve spent the last two years trying about 50 different pizzerias across Los Angeles, and I still think Pizzeria Sei serves the best pies in town. It’s the reason I’ve ranked the no-frills Pico Boulevard storefront number one on Time Out’s guide to the best pizzas in L.A. and included it among the city’s best restaurants. I’ve yet to revisit Tokyo for Seirinkan or Savoy Tomato & Cheese, and I haven’t yet trekked out to New Haven or Detroit to experience those styles in their native element, but that might make me a slightly better judge of L.A.’s buzzy pizza scene. I’m only comparing L.A. pizzas among one another, not bemoaning if they fall short compared to the greatest options in New York City or across the country.
At the same time, $150 is rather steep for “just” pizza, even if a tasting menu does allow you to try eight or so different slices instead of ordering more than a half-dozen whole pies just to sample a slice from each one. (I have indulged in this kind of extravagant spending while conducting research for the L.A. pizza guide, but this is my actual job, and most people don’t have that luxury.) For that reason, I was more than a little dubious when Joo and his wife and business partner, Jennifer So, debuted their pizza omakase last month, but I was also madly curious: Could Joo successfully elevate Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza to tasting menu heights? Would a meal here feel worth the time and money? After all, you can spend under $50 after tax and tip on a regular day at Pizzeria Sei for the finest pizza in Los Angeles.
But curiosity got the better of me. Two weeks ago, I booked a table for two at Sei’s third-ever pizzeria omakase. The night of, I walked into the spartan eatery and was welcomed by a range of familiar faces, including at least one chef and several other members of local food media. A piece of paper on the door indicated that the restaurant was closed for a private event. The food, in short, was nothing short of extraordinary. Even though I don’t really like eating pizza all that much in my spare time, I left the meal excited to come back and see what else Pizzeria Sei’s pizza omakase would offer as the seasons change and the chef continues to improve his craft.
It’s evident from the beginning of the meal that Joo, who previously worked at Ronan and Pizzana, has put significant thought into crafting L.A.’s first true pizza omakase. The first welcome bite consisted of a Korean-style amberjack ceviche served out of a pizza dough cone made with rouge de bordeaux wheat flour from the Tehachapi Grain Project, an organic farm in Central California focusing on preserving heritage wheat varieties. Of course, varying kinds of flour from the same source are also used by plenty of other high-profile chefs across the state, including Michael Cimarusti of two Michelin-starred Providence in Hollywood.
From there, Joo offered nine different slices of pizza, including a slice for dessert. The first pizza slice was a marinara made with imported Corbarino tomatoes, directly inspired by Susumu Kakinuma, the legendary founder of Tokyo’s Seirinkan. The warm, sweet cherry tomatoes gently popped in my mouth, offset by little more than extra virgin olive oil, Sicilian sea salt, garlic, basil and a touch of oregano. The second course consisted of a slice inspired by Joo’s childhood visits to Pizza Hut. A rich romesco served as a base for stracciatella cheese, anchovies, capers, olives and a generous helping of lemon zest. While I don’t recall much from my visits to Pizza Hut, and thus cannot make a direct comparison, the complex, umami-rich bites were more than satisfying.
The third course provoked a significant number of oohs and aahs from the surrounding tables: a gourmet riff on Pizzeria Sei’s regularly offered patate pizza, a white pie with creme fraiche and a healthy dose of caviar in lieu of the usual rosemary and oregano. As a semi-frequent visitor of Pizzeria Sei, I greatly enjoyed this slice, though I wished the staff would have provided diners with a fork and knife to properly scoop up all the caviar.
The most colorful slice of the bunch came next: the Hailey 1.0, a pizza named after Joo and So’s young daughter. Zucchini blossoms, zested citrus, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes marinated in champagne vinegar translated into bites that felt like you’d just run through a lush garden in the Italian countryside. After such a delightful slice, it was a little disappointing to receive a premium version of Sei’s classic margherita—and after four slices and a medium-sized cone made of pizza dough, I was starting to get a little full. While I’m sure Joo will work out the portion sizes as Sei’s pizza omakase continues to run, I can tell you now the average diner will likely struggle to finish all nine slices plus the welcome bite. Luckily, the restaurant offers to let you take slices to go if you get too full, but you’ll need to know how to pace yourself.
After the margherita special came the Savoy Pizza Y, one of my favorite slices of the night. Inspired by the bluefin tuna pizza at Savoy Tomato & Cheese, the slice featured line-caught Hawaiian bigeye tuna (a slightly more sustainable option) with mayonnaise and chives. I dabbed a hint of wasabi from the pile served with the slice. The end result? A wheat-based take on spicy tuna crispy rice. Unlike the margherita, I couldn’t resist finishing the Savoy Pizza Y slice, although I was well aware my stomach was approaching capacity and I still needed to try three more slices of pizza.
At this point, the server handed me the written menu early (it’s typically given at the end of the meal), aware of my slight concern over the fact I was starting to feel full and the end was nowhere in sight. Next came the mala spiced lamb sausage, a maximalist’s meat pie topped with creme fraiche, bell peppers, smoked provola cheese, cherry tomatoes and cilantro flowers. A squeeze of lemon helped cut through the richness of the lamb and creme fraiche. It was delightful, spicy and satisfying, but it also wasn’t new to me—I’d sampled the same pie off the specials menu while dining at Sei this past winter.
The last savory course of the night, a tom yum shrimp pizza, ended up becoming my favorite slice of the evening. A single king prawn from Downey’s TransparentSea Shrimp Farm topped a slice slathered with red panang curry, Thai basil, bell peppers, Thai shallots, Maui onion and tom yum spiced tomato. Topped with a squeeze of lime, the punchy, flavorful slice was the perfect way to end the meal. I was already so full at this point I had basically stopped eating the crusts, but dessert was calling, and damn, was I glad I answered.
In a nod to his heritage, Joo crafted a misugaru-flavored dessert pizza. The dark brown crust was flavored with the beloved Korean multigrain powder and offset by a Valrhona chocolate mousse, toasted rice ice cream, even more misugaru powder and bubu arare, the crispy, crackly ball-shaped Japanese rice crackers. Compared to most dessert pizzas I’ve had, most of which have relied heavily on chocolate hazelnut spread and ricotta, it was a light end to a carb-heavy meal, which I was grateful for. Flagging down the server to pay for our drinks and leave a tip, I was the first person to leave the restaurant. (You pay in advance for the actual meal itself through Resy.)
From start to finish, the entire pizza omakase at Pizzeria Sei clocked in at around three hours, and I left more than satisfied with the amount of time and money spent. While the average pizza enjoyer might think $150 for an all-pizza meal is a waste of money, the quality of ingredients and the varied consistency of each slice’s crust—there were five unique doughs all in all across the omakase—more than justify the high cost of admission in my eyes. If you love or even just like pizza (and enjoy seafood and caviar, since there are no substitutions here), and have the money to spend, you’ll love this experience at Pizzeria Sei. There’s nothing quite like this yet in Los Angeles, and even if imitators do crop up, they likely won’t be operating at the same level as Joo, who prides himself on continuous improvement and the sort of slight tweaks with changes in weather, humidity and ingredient sourcing that have kept Pizzeria Sei at the top of our pizza list.
The only problem that remains, then, is getting a reservation. Typically, on Wednesdays—the day after each Tuesday night pizza omakase—the restaurant releases reservations promptly at noon. Only 16 seats are offered per biweekly seating, and within a few minutes of being released, they’re usually gone. If you don’t get lucky, don’t despair: Set an alarm, wait two weeks and you can try your luck again. Believe me, it’s worth trying.
Pizzeria Sei’s next “omakasei” is slated to run Tuesday, July 9, with reservations being released on Resy at noon on Thursday, July 1.