Chef
William Joo
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Los Angeles, California, United States
i. Biography
The move from appetite to method is the central fact of William Joo’s work: pizza becomes disciplined through repetition, heat management, and dough handling, until the final product reads as a point of view rather than a category. In his case, the craft is not about novelty for its own sake, but about what happens when a classic form is held to a tighter standard of timing, texture, and control.
The Path
Training at Via Alloro, Providence, Angelini Osteria, Pizzana, and Ronan gave William Joo a layered practical education in pizza and kitchen discipline. The sequence matters less as a résumé line than as evidence of accumulation: each stop sharpened technique, tightened standards, and clarified how far a familiar form could be pushed without losing its structure. Out of that progression, his work became less about reproducing pizza as expected and more about building a personal language inside it.
The Work Today
At Pizzeria Sei, the work is built around Tokyo-style pizza and pizza omakase, with William Joo listed there as chef and owner and also as chef at the restaurant. In Los Angeles, that format gives the restaurant a precise register: controlled, exacting, and built around detail. The pizza reads as a composed exercise in restraint, where the limits of the form are part of the point. Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza, as Joo makes it, sits on a Neapolitan base but shifts the texture toward Japanese precision and a minimalist approach. The pies are cooked at high heat with a quick bake and shaped with a crimping technique that produces soft, airy sections, crisp edges, and charred bubbles. That balance is the craft: a crust that stays light inside while taking on blistering and darkening on the surface. Joo states the adjustment plainly: “I like my crust a little bit crispier and then in the oven a little bit longer than traditional Neapolitan.” That preference functions as a small but clear recalibration of tradition. One signature move is the salt punch, in which he throws a bit of salt under the dough while it cooks, before baking the pizza. It is a minor intervention with an outsized effect, the kind of detail that changes the bite without announcing itself as a flourish. The omakase format gives him room to work inside that structure. “Pizza omakase allow me to experiment and be creative.” That line captures the logic of Pizzeria Sei: a narrow format, but not a closed one. Within that lane, Tokyo-style pizza in Los Angeles becomes a matter of speed, heat, exactitude, and the discipline to let each element do its part.
Signature
William's signature dishes include pizza omakase, signature salt punch, Margherita Special Pizza, and Mala Lamb Sausage Pizza. Each one sits comfortably within his larger vocabulary, reflecting the same balance of control and expression that defines the restaurant as a whole.
In Their Words “I like my crust a little bit crispier and then in the oven a little bit longer than traditional Neapolitan.” “Pizza omakase allow me to experiment and be creative.”
Acclaim
William Joo has received 50 Top Pizza USA, Pizza Maker of the Year 2025 - Ferrarelle Award (2025). William's honors include The Best Pizza 2026 Selection, rank #54 (2026), The Best Pizza 2025 Selection, rank #44 (2025), The Best Pizza 2024 Selection, rank #48 (2024), and The Best Pizza 2023 Selection, rank #84 (2023).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of William
What is William Joo's current role?
William Joo is chef and owner.
Where did William Joo work before?
Earlier in their career, William Joo worked at Via Alloro, Providence, and Angelini Osteria.
