Star Chef Samin Nosrat Has a Sweet Summer Pizza for SF and Oakland

Samin Nosrat, famous cookbook author and television host, appears to have taken a break from filming with Netflix, in order to serve up some sweet summer pizza to her home-base Bay Area. She’s dropping in for a seasonal collaboration with the Square Pie Guys, kind of like they did with basketball star Jeremy Lin, but this time with full-on food royalty. “Samin’s Summer Pizza” will be running from today, July 6 to October 3, so long enough to roll into actual San Francisco summer, during those later and warmer months of the year.

But what does Samin Nosrat like on her pizza, fans may ask? Those who saw her guest appearance popping cherry tomatoes with puppets on Waffles + Mochi will hardly be surprised: The former Chez Panisse chef is loading up her square pie with a confit of sungold cherry tomatoes, as well as Calabrian chiles and fresh basil, or as she told the guys, “Very Samin ingredients.” This salad-style topping is going on top of a white ricotta cream pie, which does sound like a fresh change of pace from some of the more over-the-top cheese and sauce situations the guys have been slinging of late.

David Law

The guys happen to be buddies with Nosrat’s brother, who worked with one of them at a startup years ago. He recently mentioned that the star chef loved their pizza, and was excited when the Oakland location opened in March 2021. Marc Schechter, co-founder and CMO of Square Pie Guys, says that they figured it was a long shot, but they sent Nosrat an Insta DM, and were hyped to get a response in all caps. “Her whole vibe is so warm and positive,” Schechter says. “There’s no pretense about being a celeb chef, she’s just a warm person … and we wanted to take the opportunity to promote smart women in this industry, and work with an organization that’s working to make change.”

Five percent of sales will go toward CoFED (Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive), a QTBIPOC-led organization that partners with young folks of color to build food and land co-ops. And Samin is going to match those donations, so for every pie ordered, she’s tapping up the donation to 10 percent. In a short video, Nosrat says, “It’s supporting an organization that’s really worthy … Making sure that land gets into the hands of people who really need it, and food gets into the hands of people who really need it, is an important thing for me.”

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