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LIFE OF PIE
Blaze fires up the local pizza scene
Alison Bailin Batz » The Entertainer!
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laze Pizza has created a following with its interactive open-kitchen format, which allows guests to customize one of the menu’s signature pizzas or create their own for about $8. Since opening its first location in California in 2012, Blaze has succeeded in finding ways to serve tasty food without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. “Look, real ingredients just taste better—period,” says Blaze executive chef Bradford “Brad” Kent. “We take great pride in that fact that we’ve ‘nixed the nitrates’ in our cured meats, removed preservatives in our garlic and salad dressings, switched to ‘true hue’ black olives and banana peppers without artificial colors and moved to barbecue sauce with no high fructose corn syrup.” Even Blaze’s pizza dough is “clean,” meaning it’s made from scratch daily and uses only a few simple ingredients— unbleached flour, extra-virgin olive oil, filtered water, salt and a dash of sugar— that require 24-hour fermentation to produce his signature crisp crust. Unlike many other brands, Blaze has WWW.ENTERTAINERMAG.COM
an actual executive chef, Kent, on board. That’s a testament to its commitment to the team’s real food-first attitude. “I started to cook at age 7, and quickly learned that food was more than just ingredients put together,” says Kent, who quickly evolved his craft from dorm room creations as a marketing major at the University of Southern California to his first business as a tapas and small plate catering company. Thirsting for more knowledge surrounding his passion for food, Kent studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York and then Cal State Long Beach, earning a food science degree. After using an opportunity as a chef on a high-end yacht to hone his pizza-making skills, he opened Olio Pizzeria in Los Angeles and then Blaze. Basketball star LeBron James owns 17 locations. Under Kent’s direction, Blaze Pizza has developed several crowd-pleasers in addition to offering hundreds of custom pizza options. They include: • Meat Eater (top seller) - Pepperoni, crumbled meatballs, red onion, mozzarella, red sauce • Green Stripe - Pesto drizzle over grilled chicken, red peppers, chopped
garlic, mozzarella, arugula • Art Lover - Artichokes, mozzarella, ricotta, chopped garlic, red sauce dollops • Red Vine - Sauceless with sliced tomatoes, mozzarella, Parmesan, basil, chopped garlic, olive oil drizzle • Link In - Italian sausage, red peppers, red onions, mozzarella, red sauce Over the past 18 months, Blaze has made a significant commitment to Arizona, opening locations in North Phoenix, Central Phoenix, Tempe, Avondale, Glendale and Tucson, with a Scottsdale restaurant coming by the end of the year, as well as a second location in Tucson. “We want to be more than an easy stop for lunch or dinner. We want to be a part of the local community,” local franchisee Joe Sawyer says.
Blaze Pizza
The local team is actively looking to host fundraisers for the Arizona schools, community centers, sports teams and nonprofits in their neighborhoods. Those interested can visit blazepizza. com/fundraising to learn more information and schedule an event. “Each of our Phoenix-area Blaze locations are also committed to shining a light on local partners, offering several local brews on our draft beer menu monthly,” says Kent, who is a fan of the Huss Strawberry Blonde and several Four Peaks varietals after sampling them in the Phoenix restaurants. Each of the Blaze locations will offer free pizzas from August 6 to August 11 in honor of the beginning of the school year.
5120 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, 602.603.2478 950 E. Bell Road, Suite 190, Phoenix, 602.633.1150 105 W. University Drive, Tempe, 480.829.3775 10155 W. McDowell Road, Suite 103, Avondale, 623.936.3957 7870 W. Bell Road, Glendale, 623.486.2155 5615 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, 520.499.2739 blazepizza.com