Kitchen Smarts

The Art & Science of Dough: Insights from a Pizza Expert

Kitchen Smarts Season 1 Episode 6

What do wood-fired pizza, gluten-free flour, and commercial kitchen equipment have in common? Brad Kent. In this episode of Kitchen Smarts, Hava Volterra chats with culinary engineer and pizza visionary Brad Kent—founder of Olio Wood Fired Pizzeria, co-founder of Blaze Pizza, and gluten-free innovator at Original Sunshine. 

They explore how Brad went from experimenting in the kitchen as a kid to pioneering one of the most successful fast-casual pizza chains in the U.S. He shares the secret to great dough, why fermentation matters, and what it takes to scale food quality without losing soul. From bean burritos to flour made from wheat (that’s somehow gluten-free?!), this one’s got layers.

Guest: Brad Kent of Original Sunshine Gluten-Free Bagels, founder of Olio Wood Fired Pizzeria, and co-founder of Blaze Pizza.

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Hosted by: Hava Volterra, CEO & co-founder of Parsley Software

Kitchen Smarts is a production of Stereoknife.
Artwork by
Dennis Mukai
Music by Brandon McCulloch