BRAD KENT: MASTER PIZZAIOLO Discovering the magic behind Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza By bazaar staff
What do you get when you cross science, art, and a passion for pizza? Seasoned pizzaiolo Brad Kent, the executive chef at Blaze Pizza and the man who created their amazing proprietary dough. The self-proclaimed tinkerer started experimenting with making pizza in 2001, and by 2006 he created a mobile business making tapas and catering. He opened his first brick and mortar restaurant in 2010 and by 2012, he was already being called “the pizza whisperer”. That was when Brad was approached by Blaze to come up with a recipe for a fool-proof and delicious crust, and he thoroughly delivered. Today, the chain has more than 250 locations in the US, Canada and now in the Middle 106
East. His own restaurant, Olio Pizzeria in Los Angeles, offers a pure artisanal pizza experience. Brad started young. At the age of seven he was already experimenting in the kitchen. He went to college for a business degree, which he got. But his passion for good food led him to the Culinary Institute of America and then a Food Science degree from Cal State Long Beach. That, and his hands-on experience in running his own food businesses, has really helped shape the way he thinks, from recipe creation to the holistic experience of his clientele. Brad gave me a tour of Blaze Pizza’s kitchen. We first stepped into the dough room and that’s when it was clear that he has definitely thought of everything. Nothing is left to chance, because consistency is the name of his game. The water that is used in the dough
is run through a very complicated filtration system, then the right ratio of minerals are then added back in. Details are everything. Brad is soft-spoken but his passion for pizza is contagious, not that I need any encouragement. He wants to make sure that you get an artisanal pizza, for the price of a fast-food one. He insists on using the best ingredients. For instance, Brad never compromised on always using cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, and never the refined stuff even though it is more expensive. He learned early on that if there is any oxidation in the oil or it is of lower quality, it affects the gluten development in the dough. He even had it validated and tested by a chemist and a biochemist—Brad is a food scientist, after all. I asked him about his recipe development journey.