The latest entry into the bustling Main Street restaurant scene looks to bake a delicate balance between elevated food and accessibility, all for the love of the dough.
Helmed by passionate pizza professionals, Triple Beam Pizza recently opened its fourth standalone Los Angeles location at 2905 Main Street, bringing Roman-style pies for dine-in, delivery and takeout. The wait was years in the making, as Director of Operations Eric Levitt was brought in to the company just days before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a full business model shift. Gone were the days of the namesake triple beam scale weighing pizzas for payment, in were the times of pre-packaged sizing and delivery focus.
"The good news (was), when you come in, you have no preconceived notions, it’s easy to mold everything the way you want … we basically had to transition the whole business over," Levitt said. "And then as we came out (of COVID), it’s a game of figuring out what do we keep, what do we get rid of? What do we transition back to? And we’re still in that mode right now, figuring out every day what to make better."
With the transition out of the pandemic came the work to put Triple Beam on Main Street, with pie fanatics getting excited every step of the way, from the location finally being painted red to the Triple Beam logo appearing in white lettering. Levitt added that ownership would’ve likely gave up during the lengthy wait anywhere else, but with Santa Monica "always on the list" for expansion and the company feeling the "vibe" of Main Street, the location stayed on course.
Another tribulation was Levitt and company wanting to set the locale apart by offering the first dine-in space at a Triple Beam, but the building itself wouldn’t cooperate fully.
"As much as you think you know what’s behind every wall, you have no idea what’s behind every wall, right?," Levitt said. "So it just basically became a game of … we got to replace this, we got to replace that … (but) it was really important to our owners to be here and be a part of the Santa Monica community."
Now fully entrenched in the city, the pizza product end is handled by Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Operations Juan Robles, who met Levitt while working for Pitfire Pizza. Coming from both a baking and fine dining background, Robles noted that pizza is a "very good way to bring both of them together" to create something special.
"Pizza is something that you can bring to the kids all the way to the adults, and everyone can enjoy it, versus just doing fine dining where only a certain (group) can actually taste your product," Robles said. "It’s being able to bring smiles to kids all the way up to the older people."
The Triple Beam pie is derived from the streets of Italy, with dough made in a 48-hour fermentation process and baked in special golden deck ovens. The thinner, more square pizzas come in classic flavors like pepperoni to more refined creations like roasted mushroom and shallot, acorn squash and corn esquite. Robles is also setting up his plan for the fall season, keeping things fresh and using the opportunity to "educate people that pizza can actually be more" than just the typical New York slice.
Aside from the dough offerings, Triple Beam has its own selection of salads (Caesar, veggie chopped, green bean and spinach), homemade lemonade and sweet treats like the brookie. Between the elevated menu and the welcoming Main Street space, Levitt believes Triple Beam is weighing on hungry customer’s minds.
"It’s all about, to me at least, the product (being) the highest-end product possible and having incredible different recipes that you wouldn’t normally taste at a local pizza shop," Levitt said. "But we make it approachable … just serving an incredible slice of pizza that has a flavor you’ve never had before, and be able to walk around and experience Main Street and experience this whole environment."
To view Triple Beam’s menu offerings, visit triplebeampizza.com.
