In this three-part series on establishments specializing in craft pizza and serving craft beer, we interview the chefs themselves on their passion.
Part Two: Jason Koehler of Devil Craft
Part Three: Derek Thomas of Pizzakaya
Part Two: Jason Koehler of Devil Craft
What is your background in pizza? How did you get started?
Aside from being a bit of a foodie, not only did I have no experience in pizza, I had no experience in restaurants or food production for that matter. My background in making pizza started a few years ago out of necessity. While attending the Siebel Institute in Chicago for beer production studies, I was fortunate enough to taste some of the famous local pizzerias first hand. A year or two later when my wife and I built a house, I imported an oven suitable for baking, and went to work trying to replicate what I had in Chicago. After about 18 months of torturing my wife with pizza weekly, it started to taste OK.
With my brewing background, I sort of took the same approach to pizza making as I do to beer making. A lot of processes in baking are very similar to beer making. If you look at the ingredients closely, 3 out of 4 of them are the same. Maybe it was also the engineering process from brewing that helped. When a brewer tastes a beer they like from another brewer, they try to break down the flavors and consider how to replicate a flavor, or try to isolate an individual flavor. I took this same approach to pizza making. It is a slow, methodical process, tweaking things one tiny step at a time.
Can you please describe the style of pizza you specialize in now? What’s its history?
At Devil Craft, we specialize in Chicago-style pizza. First pioneered at Uno’s Pizzeria, Chicago-style pizza was created in the 1940’s. Over time it has branched out first into the greater city through expansion and local rivals like Gino’s and Malnati’s, and later throughout the United States as it became an American original.
Chicago-style pizza is slow-baked in a deep pan, rather than quickly on a stone like most pizzas in Japan. It is also different in that it is ‘upside down’, with the cheese on the bottom and the tomato sauce on top. They’re strikingly large and heavy, with some of our pizzas weighing in at over 1.5 kg. With the generous amount of toppings we use and the reasonable pricing, our pizza can satisfy the heartiest of appetites. One of my greatest delights is seeing a customer react when they see a Chicago-style pizza for the first time. Most people in Japan have never realized that pizza can be a 3D experience.
What are some of your special pizzas?
Our best selling pizza is the Devil Works. It is basically a Chicago-style supreme pizza. It features 3 cheeses, three meats, and 7 vegetables. Our house marinara sauce melds 8 spices with Italian tomatoes, then slow-cooked for hours. Our dough is aged a day to enhance the flavor. Our sausage is hand-ground daily. We take our time and try to do things right.
Why do you think craft beer goes so well with your particular pizza?
Craft beer is full-flavored when compared to standard offerings, and Chicago-style pizza is no different. While I think that there is a simple beauty in a classic, well-crafted pilsner, the whole craft beer revolution is all about trying to enhance what beer is. Why should pizza be any different? Craft brewers often add ridiculous amounts of hops to their beers, or double and triple the specialty or character malts to add color, flavor, and mouthfeel. We add more spices, more cheese, more everything to our pizzas for the same reason: more flavor. When you pair full-bodied, rich beers like IPA’s or pale ales with our full-flavored pizzas, you know you’ve found a match made in heaven.
Which are some of your favorite craft beers?
Among Japanese brewers, a tough call. A lot of brewers have really improved since I arrived in Japan 7 years ago, so there are too many to mention here. I drink a fair amount of Baird Beer and Swan Lake. I also like Shiga Kogen and North Island pretty well. Among foreign beers, I think Firestone Walker is probably the best beer going today; I have yet to find a beer from them that isn’t fantastic. For larger craft breweries, I love Sam Adams. Boston Lager on draft is always a treat. As my wife is a beer importer, I have a soft spot for some of her suds as well, namely Diamond Knot IPA, Silver City (anything– they make fantastic beers), and Sound Brewery’s Latona IPA and Monk’s Indiscretion. Great stuff!
What are your plans/goals from here on?
Well, we’re hoping to have a second DevilCraft location open this Spring! It will be similar to our first place in Kanda, but we’re hoping to get a license to brew at this place and have a real brewpub up and running before the end of 2013– as was our original plan to begin with at our Kanda location.
