Elite Event: An Evening with the Pizza Whisperer @ Blaze

I’m a little late… Ok I’m a lot late with this review so please forgive me.
I was super excited for this event because 1. I love pizza. 2. I love beer. 3. This place is literally down the block from my house. Drew hit this one out of the park yet again with an awesome event.
The folks over at Blaze were fantastic. Led by the gracious Chef Brad we were treated to a super delicious event.
The build your own aspect of this place and the speed in which they make their pizzas is simply mind blowing. It also doesn’t hurt that they use incredibly fresh ingredients.
To top it off Bluepoint was there making sure my glass was always full of their Toasted Lager or Hoptical Illusion.
Like I said in my tip, this was a win, win, win event for me and could have been for you had you been here.
If you’re not attending Drew’s events you definitely should be!

This was my very first Elite event in Long Island and I was very impressed. I customized my own thin crust pizza; there were endless toppings and three different pizza sauces (regular, white and spicy red) to choose from. The pizza is cooked in 180 seconds. Patrons have the option of topping the cooked pizza with arugula, olive oil, pesto, hot sauce and other sauces. The cashier was very helpful too, offering me a drink, salad and smore. I couldn’t resist and had to try a little bit of everything including the pumpkin flavored beer by Brewing Blue Point Company.
I got to chat with Chef Brad, who was so personable. The entire staff at Blaze Fast Fired Pizza was extremely polite, helpful and friendly.
The event couldn’t have happened without the guidance and management of Drew and the Unilocal crew. Thank you for putting together a wonderful event and allowing me to be a part of it. I look forward to visiting Long Island more often and attending more Unilocal events in the community.

There is an ancient proverb that says, «if you have pizza and beer, the Unilocalers will come.» And we did.
Chef Brad was completely right in saying that when you’re passionate about something it shines through in your work, because his pizza was delicious.
Blaze works a lot like Chipotle or other human conveyor-​belt restaurants, and the added benefit is that it is so quick. There are plenty of choices for toppings and all that I tried were brimming bundles of freshness.
My first pizza was a half BBQ and half Red Vine and complimented with Blue Point breweries out-​of-​this-​world pumpkin beer. Pretty sure I inhaled it. The banana peppers on the BBQ side were genius. The crust is incredibly thin but also insanely perfected, as it had the right amount of crunch and did not fall apart.
My second pizza was the Green Stripe on one side and the other side I kinda just put bacon, cheese, zucchini, and hot sauce on the other side. The fresh arugula on the Green Stripe that is added after the pizza is cooked is also, for lack of a more creative word, genius. A palate refresher.
I also tried a slice of my sisters’ Green stripe, she had gotten that pizza on the gluten free dough because we have a friend who has a gluten intolerance and we wanted to let her know about the place since it is so hard to find good carb replacements. Chef Brad told us that the gluten free dough is made from brown rice flour and a couple other mix-​ins. It doesn’t puff up quite like the regular dough, but it was the closest gluten-​free product i’ve ever had.
Blaze is one of those places you walk into and immediately feel the love. The staff was so, so genuine and happy, which can be rare in the restaurant business. They worked together efficiently and cordially, which is a reflection of good treatment and management. They had great tips when ordering the pies and were patient.
Blaze was a great experience. I ended my night with a s’more pie but Blaze was awesome enough to let us take home a pie as well (the artichoke one and the olivinetti one). And on top of the full stomachs, they sent us home with goodie bags too! How thoughtful!
It was a super fun night, thank you Drew, Blaze & Chef Brad, & Blue Point!

What a terrific Unilocal event!!! Absolutely Awesome Pizza… Build your own. Let me start out by saying that I gave Blaze 5 stars for simply the best Pizza I ever had. They also have an amazing team of smiling helpful individuals that clearly enjoy what they’re doing.
Drew started the eveing by saying hello and introducing Chef Brad who explained his «Passion for Pizza» and how he put together his «signature pies» to be the best that flavor has to offer. He also spoke about his dedicated team preparing this food.
I initially ordered one of the signature pies knowing that these were going to be the «house special» for my taste buds, and quickly modified the ingredients… It was hard to look at all the available ingredients and not make a modification to the original recipe, I was not disappointed! Tasty with flavor… the sauce, the meat, I kept eating looking forward to my next bite.
180 seconds to get to the perfect crispy thin crust and perfectly cooked toppings. Clearly, that is one hot oven.
Their prices are extremely reasonable for what they offer and and you can chose from the HUGE assortment of fresh ingredients (see picts.) green toppings, meat toppings, onions, garlic, cheeses, and more… much much more.
If you enjoy meat, opt for the italian sausage that is meaty with lots and lots of fennel. Amazing… I joined that with meatballs and onions. All this sitting on the thin crust, perfectly cooked tasty dough. Blue Point brewing was also here providing toasted lager and their hoptical illusion!!!
«Blzae» absolutely fantastic. A place that brought pizza to a whole new level at a price point that everyone will appreciate.
KUDOS to Chef Brad and his team for making this an absolutely incredible dining experience.
Thank you to Drew and the crew at Blaze for having this memorable event… I WILL BE BACK!

The true question of the night: «How do you Blaze?»
Well, I’ll let you in on the secret method that is BYOP. (Build Your Own Pizza, obv.) The crust is 11″ personal-​pan style which is just the right size. Enough to fit all those toppings and the thinness of the dough ensures everything is cooked from crust-​to-​crust. We headed up the counter and the first option was the sauces. The spicy red really packed a punch which I enjoyed. Then there’s the cheeses. From fresh mozz to goat cheese, they have it all. And the toppings! Sausage, Pepperoni, Banana Peppers, Jalapenos, Pineapple… you get the gist. It’s customized to your liking. And after your heart’s content, they pop it in their brick oven which they assure you will be cooked to perfection in 180 seconds.
The pizza was superb. It’s fresher than fresh and personalized. What more can you ask? Not only did we receive unlimited pies, (perfect for sharing) but they gave us ooey-​gooey toasted s’mores. Heck yesss.
And to top that off, there was a rep. from Blue Point Brewery (located in Patchogue, LI). The offerings included their Toaster Lager, Their Hopptical Illusion and their Pumpkin IPA. I was really excited to meet the Owner/​Founder of Blue Point. He gave me a little insight into how he started his business, literally from his home & his van. I felt like I was meeting a celebrity of the craft beer world! Speaking of owners, it was really great meeting Chef Brad. What a passionate guy. I mean he flew all the way from Cali just to be at Blaze last night! Just from talking with him for a few minutes, I could see his strong love for food.
It was wonderful seeing old faces and some new. A HUGE thank you to Chef Brad, the staff of Blaze Pizza, Blue Point and of course to Drew!!! P. S. I think that chef hat/​outfit was pretty convincing… I was ready to fire up some pizzas then and there. P. P. S. Only tip: You should add Nutella to the toppings list. Just sayin’

What??? Build your own pizza??? Awesome!!! Day 2 of a Unilocal event and I am stuffed.
Fast fired up pizza is my thang for sure. I Didn’t have to wait long since the pizza are done in like 180 seconds. Oh yeah!!! I was able to create my own mini pizza and it was delish. Blue Point was on point, get it? Hahhaa Brad aka the pizza whisperer was amazing. It was nice meeting him and having him explain some key points on how to make a pizza.
Ty Drew for allowing me to attend my first LI event, I had a blast. Till next time «)

For my first Long Island Elite event, I had to drive 45 minutes from Queens. Was it worth it? Oh yes, it was.
Blaze is a national chain conceptualized by Chef Brad Kent (who flew out to Long Island just for the event) of California, and he wanted to bring his talent and touch to the east coast. Enter Blaze Pizzeria. A modern «build your own pizza» establishment, Blaze has a simple menu, Great prices and an assortment of fresh ingredients. You can choose from their specials or choose every aspect of your own pizza from the sauce (the spicy tomato sauce!) to the toppings to the seasoning. Cooked in a high intensity flame, your pizza takes 180 seconds to get to the perfect crispy thin crust specimen that all of us proper pizza eaters (sorry Chicago; you know I’m right) look for in a great pizza.
Brew point represented the event, and their lager matched well with the pizzas.
If you enjoy meat, opt for the italian sausage. You can always appreciate sausage that is meaty with visible fennel.
If you enjoy dessert, get the s’more pie.
Thank you Chef Brad, long island CM Drew and the great people of Blaze for a great elite event! See you in Los Angeles, Chef!

Chef Brad!
thank you!
and thank you Drew for a truly wonderful Unilocal evening!
Chef Brad has a passion for his pizza’s and it shows from wearing his Chef coat to his truly heartfelt pizza passion and its all good
super thin crust pizzas 11″ pies made to order just as you watch baked in 180 seconds
and wow!
I also had their lemonades and they go perfect with the pies
you can pick from their menu of ideas or pick your own
super friendly staff know their wares
digestive crackers from across the pond England (I love these crackers all by themselves) made into smore’s YUMMY
even If I did not meet the Chef this place is still awesome
Blue Point Brewing was also there
their toasted lager was refreshing
and they gave out hats I love my hat!
This was a warm fun event!
oh yes one more thing
GOODY BAGS!
pizza coupons and beverage containers yay!

If you build it, they will come (For make your own pizza and beer)
Yessss! What a great time last night seeing Drew and my fellow Elite Unilocalers.
I’m a total fan of Blue Point beer so I apologize if I didn’t say hello to you. My mind was listening to careless whispers from Chef Brad. He was talking about how the Hoptical Illusion is paired with his latest creation, the Buffalo Chicken pizza.
Listen, ya’ll better get ready because I charged to be the first in line at that point!
I asked for their creation and they had all these fresh and locally sourced toppings.
Yum!
What ruined it at the end was, the served asked if she can add Sea Salt and basil to my hot, out of the oven pizza. I should have said: You may know Karate but I know Kra-​zay! She sprinked too much salt on the already salty pizza and made my blood pressure shoot up to ¹⁸⁰⁄₁₂₀. I only ate half…
Then my new partner in Unilocal crime, Dick G says not to fear. Try my pizza! He made a garlic, red onion and pepper hot pizza that my mouth went from salty to fire pepper hot.
Luckily there was plenty of Blue Point Beer to wash it all down.
I started it over again (Love Unilocal)
I created a cheesy pizza that has NO salt or heavy spices. Just pure lovey dovey cheesy goodness.
I poured myself a Toasted Lager and all was right with the world.
So we have beer, we have pizza no one noticed in the waaaay back the Blood Orange Lemonade??? OMG, this drink was insane! Soo good.
Thank you Chef Brad, the place is large enough for families as well as people looking for a quick lunch. Thanks again CM Drew and the staff of Blaze for a great Elite Unilocal event!

Another great Unilocal event has gone into the books! Yummy time tonight at Blaze where we feasted literally on any style pizza we desired. Personally I stuck with the signatures since I Love to know what the chef has in store for my tastebuds, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Blaze is a fun place but my favorite aspect about these events is getting to hear and see the chefs passion for the food shine through. Having that insight really makes a difference and it’s great to know that someone’s heart and soul goes into every morsel served.
Thank again to Drew for organizing and the fun swag!