The Joy of Pizza

“Dan knows what he’s doing at every step of the process so he can say, I want a little bit more crunch, or I want a little bit more acid in my dough…. [He] is a great teacher.”–chef Wylie Dufresne“Dan’s pizza has a nostalgic, reminiscent quality while at the same time being very local to his part of New Jersey and also very progressive, which is extremely difficult to do…. You get hints of Naples; you get a hint of John’s coal oven in New York; you get a hint of all of these ancient flavors. But when you look down at the pie, you’re looking at this completely modern thing that he’s created.”–chef Frank Falcinelli“He’s got what it takes to make the best pizza on planet Earth.”–Adam Platt, New York magazine“Home cooks interested in learning how to make pizza from scratch will appreciate this cookbook by rising culinary star Richer… The recipes for different kinds of pizza dough (including sourdough) are worth the price of admission alone, but the book also helpfully includes rubrics for evaluating tomatoes, olive oil, and mozzarella.”–Library Journal“I could eat these pizzas for every meal.”–Kelsey Lynch, Glamour“Dan Richer is the mastermind behind culinary destination Razza… one of the most talked about pizza places in the country.”–Good Morning America“The definitive pizza book for the home cook. Not even close. And [Richer and Parla] are as smart as it comes on all matters culinary. Huge winner.”–Andrew Zimmern“You love it because it’s perfect but do you know how to make it? You will after reading this. Written by the chef of Razza, the New Jersey pizzeria that makes food critics cry and the NYTimes betray its own city, The Joy of Pizza covers every step in the pizza-making process. Using simple ingredients, you’ll make 2022 the Year of the Pie, using just your regular old oven.”–GearMoose”[T]he perfect reference for home cooks and professionals alike.“–Food52

“It’s difficult to manifest subjective feelings like ‘joy’ into tangible objects. But, if joy were a food, we can all agree that it would be pizza. Now there’s a new treatise on the subject, and it takes the form of a 288-page book that looks good enough to eat.”

Dan Richer is the chef and owner of Razza in Jersey City. A graduate of Rutgers University, he skipped his own graduation to fly to Italy and begin his real education: in pizza. He is a three-time nominee for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award, and a James Beard Rising Star Chef semi-finalist.