**In celebration of Women’s History Month, I’ll be posting about women in the pizza community every few days this month. The pizza biz is pretty male-dominated, so let’s take this opportunity to throw the spotlight onto some of the women who are doing amazing work in the pizza world.
Laura Meyer is a true pizza ninja. I took the photo above when I was visiting Tony’s Pizza Napoletana last year, where Laura is the head chef. She was working the pizza station along and navigated it with such finesse it looked more like a ballet performance than a kitchen. I knew she was a good pizza maker, having sampled her work at Tony’s and at competitions in Las Vegas and Parma, Italy, but watching her in her home kitchen was magical.
Laura lived and studied Italy, where she ignited a passion for food and culture. She didn’t start stated making pizza until 2006, with her first job at Pyzano’s Pizzeria in Castro Valley, CA. It was there that she met Tony Gemignani, who provided training and continues to serve as her employer, mentor, and friend.
After college she became kitchen manager and head chef at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. She has since won 2 world titles for cooking as well as an award for Best 30 Under 30 from Zagat as a rising chef in the industry. The first world title she won was in Parma, Italy in 2013 for the Pizza in Teglia category. She was the first female and the first American to win this title. Laura then took the prize for Best Non-Traditional pizza at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in 2014.
Besides winning awards and being a the Swiss Army Knife of pizza, Laura’s also an administrator and teaching assistant for The International School of Pizza, also located in San Francisco. Laura is an incredible pizza maker and force of good in the pizza community.
