Triple Beam Pizza

Roman slices under restaurant discipline

The slice is cut to order, not treated as an afterthought. Matt Molina, chef at Triple Beam Pizza in Highland Park, Los Angeles, brings Roman-style pizza al taglio into a casual room built for speed, appetite, and repeat visits. His work here sits inside a longer habit: making food that can move quickly without losing its point of view. Molina trained at Los Angeles Culinary Institute, cooked at Campanile in Los Angeles, and worked as a trainee at Del Posto in New York City before the Mozza years put him at the center of opening and maintaining large restaurant systems. From 2006–2015, he served as opening executive chef across Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza, their Singapore operations, the Newport Beach pizzeria, the takeaway arm, and Chi Spacca. Triple Beam asks for a different kind of control. The format is more direct, the counter more immediate, the food more openly casual. Since 2018, Molina has been co-owner of Triple Beam Pizza, applying the same concern for legibility, repetition, and throughput to a slice cut from a long Roman pan.

Al taglio as a working method

The house centers on Roman-style pizza al taglio, a format that depends on the bench as much as the topping. The dough has to hold its structure after baking, carry sauce and fat without collapsing, and still eat cleanly once portioned. Margherita Pizza sets the baseline: tomato, cheese, dough, heat, and restraint. Pepperoni Pizza tests the same frame under oil and salt. Roasted Fennel & Sausage pushes the slice toward deeper savor without moving it out of the place’s plainspoken grammar. Molina’s earlier career matters here because this is a repeatable craft, not a one-off plate. The cut, the reheating, the pass from counter to guest, and the way each tray keeps its shape through service all need a kitchen’s discipline. The beverage side stays equally direct, with a curated program focused on beer and wine. It supports the food rather than competing with it.

The counter and the patio

The room works at a casual register: lively, bright, and built around the counter’s rhythm. This is not a hushed dining room, and the pizza does not ask for one. The slice belongs to movement: a tray arriving from the kitchen, a decision made in front of the case, a cut made before the plate or box reaches the hand. Outside, the patio gives the place some air, turning a quick order into something more settled without formalizing it. The noise is part of the pace. Beer and wine keep the table loose. The craft remains visible because the format leaves little room to hide. Dough, topping, heat, cut, service. Each gesture has to land.

Rigor in a casual register

Molina’s current work across Los Angeles keeps returning to the same test: familiar food made specific enough to earn another visit. At Triple Beam, that test sits in the Roman pan rather than on a composed plate. The next measure is not a new claim of refinement, but the steady repetition of the counter, where Margherita Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza, and Roasted Fennel & Sausage have to hold their line through service.