Pizza Blog from pizzatherapy.com

Ed LaDou , Pizzaiolo I sadly received the news, Ed LaDou had passed away. There were many tributes and praises given to Ed. Each one, well deserved. Ed LaDou , was the pizzaiolo, who saw the endless possibilities of pizza. He took pizza to new levels of creativity. He was a true original. He is credited with creating the pizzas at Spago's , Wolfgang Puck's famous restaurant. " Wolf certainly gave Ed the toppings that he wanted, but it was Ed that ran that department single- handedly in the beginning," said Nancy Silverton , former pastry chef from Spago's . It is no secret, he created the entire menu for California Pizza Kitchen. Larry Flax, co-creator of CPK , explained: "We had Ed come in and work with us at the beginning of the restaurant." Not one to take a back seat, LaDou left CPK soon afterward, and created his own innovative restaurant, Caioti Pizza Cafe. He was able to feature his own pizzas in his own unique style. Adam Kuban , Ne...

Ed LaDou, A Pizza Hero I went to lunch with some friends the other day. We ended up at California Pizza Kitchen . Certainly not my first choice, but I was out voted. Not that I have anything against CPK , the pizza there is OK. It's just that when I see the sign, I think it should be called "Ed LaDou's California Pizza Kitchen". Let me explain. Ed LaDou is one of the true unsung heroes of pizza. When CPK was slated to open, the chef quit at the 11th hour. That left a brand new restaurant, without a menu. In a panic, the owner's contacted Ed to put a menu together. He was able to create an extraordinary menu of pizza, pasta and salads. Ed LaDou created the whole CPK concept. He also is credited with creating Wolfgang Puck's pizza menu. Nobody really talks about the fact that Ed is a pizza genius. You can read the whole story by Joan Nathan , right here. It is a fasciating tale of pizza wonderment and adventure. You can see Ed in Pizza, The Movie . This m...