Chef Waldo Stout has officially brought his glorious pizza pop-up, Waldo’s Pizza, back into regular rotation. He brought back his pizzeria-on-wheels to Trademark Brewing, launching into a full-steam-ahead schedule of upcoming appearances.
Stepping away from the kitchen of Due Fiori after consulting its menu and overseeing it for a year, Chef Waldo is back in front of the mobile wood-fire oven, slinging some of the finest pies in a city bourgeoning with stellar pizza. It marks the first formal, regularly-scheduled outing for the pop-up (outside of special collaborations like his one with Hamburgers Nice or Got Your Back) since his last service in March of last year. And one can easily see: he is completely back into a happy groove.
“I can’t wait until I find my perfect rhythm again,” he said, assembling a pie dubbed “The Delorean” with red wine vinegar-poached shiitakes, ricotta, bèchamel, and Italian sausage. “It’s just having my hands back in dough. Standing in front of the oven again… I haven’t felt this happy and centered in a long while.”
If you missed him at Trademark, fear not: He will be at The Grasshopper on Friday, June 12 at 7PM and at The V-Room on Saturday, June 13 at 7PM. Check his Instagram for weekly dates.
Wait—why is Waldo’s Pizza such a big deal?
Chef Waldo’s culinary pedigree reads like a James Beard resume. After moving to California for BMX, Chef Waldo unexpectedly found his calling in the kitchen.
He began at the now-closed, much-missed Italian steakhouse Chianina, where he advanced from server to line cook under Chef David Coleman and general manager Alejandro Duran—the latter being a core part of his culinary awakening. His talent soon earned him spots at some of Los Angeles’s most acclaimed restaurants, including Bestia and its celebrated sibling, Bavel, where Chef Ori Menashe selected him to help open the restaurant. Inspired by the pita-making at Bavel, which reminded him of his mother’s Sonoran tortilla-making, Waldo continued refining his craft with work at Lodge Bread. Then Roberta’s. Then Gjusta. And then Otium. Then Pizzeria Sei…
From there, he created the pizza for Long Beach brewery Beachwood’s Huntington Beach concept, again scoring gold in the pizza category. He created the first array of stellar pies at the now middling Little Coyote (credit that was promptly stolen by its former owners and proclaimed as their own). Helped out with Naples gem Marlena under the dough-creation of Chef Michael Ryan. And, most recently, his turn at Due Fiori.
Chef Waldo has had his hands directly involved in making some of the region’s best food—especially dough-based foods. And that is what makes having Waldo’s Pizza returning such an honor for Long Beach’s wildly strong pizza game.
Waldo’s Pizza was always destined to return to Long Beach’s regular programming schedule.
For those who know Chef Waldo, his own pizzeria has always been the goal. And if you are to have him talk about his dreams, that pizzeria isn’t a pop-up but a full-on brick-and-mortar. The growing cohort of Gen Z food creators who stand by ghost kitchens and pop-ups solely? Waldo ultimately rejects this: His identity sits firmly within the Millennial ideal that brick-and-mortars still matter.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I want a space that can be part of the community here in Long Beach,” he said. “I want one of those spaces that feels lived in because it has been lived in. That pizza shop that’s been here for decades.”
His words echo the paths paved by spaces like the Bluff Heights gem La Parolaccia. Or Dean’s Thai Curry Pizza, which built two Long Beach original pies out of fusing pizza with Thai cuisine. Or the city’s oldest pizzeria, Domenico’s, celebrating 70-plus years of serving the Shore.
And, if he has anything to say about it, each of those spaces will have an inspiring part of Waldo’s Pizza’s future.
And the future? To bring a deepening of Chef Waldo’s culinary signature into the food.
For those who missed out on Chef Waldo’s latter two collaborative appearances—one with Got Your Back, followed by one with Selva—you missed out on what he sees as part of the future of Waldo’s Pizza. And one of the strongest ways it was expressed was through a calzone.
Bringing in Sonoran wheat via Arizona, Waldo paid tribute to a braised beef dish his mom would often make, doused in guajillo chiles. That is then stuffed into a dough pocket with copious amounts of mozzarella and a massive handful of fresh cilantro before being baked. It is then set atop a glazey, outright sexy guajillo butter sauce and topped with perfect hills of prosciutto, Parmesan, and chives for what could be the perfect fusion calzone.
Another showcase of Waldo’s Pizza’s future? The collab pizza he created with Chef Carlos Jurado at Selva. Served one night only, this ode to Latin American cuisine via pizza was magical. Salsa blanca blended with mozzarella. A smoked pork belly gone chicharrón. Chunks of charred and caramelized plantains. Calabrian chile ají. Micro cilantro.
“These are the kind of things I want to eventually do at my pizzeria,” Waldo said. “Since losing my Dad, I’ve just wanted to dive deeper into my roots—the Sonora roots, the Arizona roots, and now, my California roots… I don’t want to be pigeon-holed into a singular culinary identity, except for what I can express through dough.”
And the more we have the honor of witnessing his work, the more that idea becomes a tangible reality.
To find out where Waldo’s Pizza will popup, follow their Instagram.
