Joe Beddia is a self-taught pizzaiolo and the chef and owner of Philadelphia’s Pizzeria Beddia. He’s also the author of Pizza Camp, published in 2017. His early career included brewing beer and working at Philadelphia restaurants such as Osteria and Tria. A four-month stint working at a brewery in Japan helped inspire him to open his own pizza shop.
In 2013, he opened a tiny, standing-room-only pizzeria on Girard Avenue in Fishtown, making every pizza himself and limiting production to 40 pies a night. He developed a distinct, simple style driven by locally sourced ingredients and a fixation on fermentation. His pizzas are cheesy, not too thin, never too fussy. He also makes one of the city’s best tomato pies, with Jersey tomatoes and lots of Arbequina olive oil.
Two years after opening, the original pizzeria was named the best pizza in America by Bon Appétit magazine. In 2019, Beddia partnered with Defined Hospitality to open a 140-seat restaurant, giving him room to explore his love of natural wine alongside the pizza.
“I’m not eating pizza a lot these days,” he admits. “But I’m tasting it a lot.”
Beddia is also a partner and creative adviser at Defined Hospitality’s Picnic, though he doesn’t oversee its kitchen. “It’s a casual place with really good food and a great wine list that you can go to with all your friends and family – really, just show up with ten people and have great food.”
