{"id":379424,"date":"2026-10-22T07:22:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379424\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T07:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T07:22:26","slug":"chef-tsubasa-tamaki-brings-his-tokyo-neapolitan-pizza-to-nyc-with-pizza-studio-tamaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/379424\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Tsubasa Tamaki brings his Tokyo Neapolitan pizza to NYC with Pizza Studio Tamaki"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York doesn\u2019t just magically have the most unique food in the nation; creative individuals like Chef Tsubasa Tamaki bring rich culture and delicious fusions to the heart of Manhattan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At Pizza Studio Tamaki, Tamaki is serving up Tokyo-Neapolitan pizza. His pizza isn\u2019t the slices you buy at the local New York pizzerias, or even a sit-down Neapolitan-style pizza at a restaurant \u2014 Pizza Studio Tamaki serves up a warm, charred, crusted pie made with ingredients straight from Japan, teaching New Yorkers what cultural immersion is all about.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s light, fragrant, slightly charred, and with a distinct punch of salt,\u201d Tamaki says.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Unlike the very circular cornicione of a Neapolitan pizza, Tamaki stretches his dough, made with proprietary flour imported from Japan, so the outer crust expands dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stretch the dough so the crust puffs up like a cloud,\u201d Tamaki says. \u201cI also sprinkle salt directly onto the floor of the pizza oven, a signature technique we call the \u2018salt punch.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening in New York has been the plan from day one. Tamaki values speed and the hustle and bustle of New York, so choosing New York for Tamaki made perfect sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/a>Chef Tsubasa TamakiPhoto by Erin Byrne<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment I dedicated my life\u2019s work, I knew I wanted to open a restaurant in\u00a0New York, the best city in the world,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Something Tamaki didn\u2019t experience with New York\u2019s dining culture until after he arrived in the States was the popular demand for pizza. New Yorkers can be found walking and eating pizza down the streets on any normal day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt as familiar and accessible as eating an onigiri in Japan,\u201d Tamaki said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t realized just how deeply pizza was woven into everyday life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of Pizza Studio Tamaki\u2019s distinctive concepts is reflected through the ingredients. Every pizza is made with flour thousands of miles away from New York. Tamaki likes to use a proprietary flour blend from Japan. The decision, he said, came down to the pizza itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI simply couldn\u2019t find any flour locally that could bring the pizza I envisioned to life,\u201d he said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Tamaki believes flour is one of the misunderstood elements of Japanese food culture. The diversity of Japanese flour varies by meal type. Just like the variations in rice Japan has, there is also a wide range of flours.<\/p>\n

\u201cTechnically, the recipe isn\u2019t finished,\u201d Tamaki said. \u201cI\u2019m constantly experimenting, searching for better flour and ways to improve it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chef<\/a>Chef Tsubasa TamakiPhoto by Erin Byrne<\/p>\n

Developing that dough in New York came with another element that affects the pizza-making process. Tamaki first developed the recipe during an extremely cold winter in New York, where the colder environment affected how the dough fermented and developed compared to Tokyo. This meant paying close attention to the water temperature and environment keeping the dough consistent.<\/p>\n

However, that didn\u2019t stop Tamaki from his mission to introduce New Yorkers to Tokyo-Neapolitan pizza.\u00a0\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

In a pizza capital city, the common question Tamaki receives is: Why did the city need a Tokyo pizza? The answer: \u201coriginality.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re creating something from scratch, a completely new category that offers flavors, aromas, and textures people haven\u2019t experienced before,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The distinction between Tokyo and New York is also reflected in customers\u2019 reactions.\u00a0
\n\"Pizza<\/a>Pizza Studio Tamaki\u2019s pizza.Photo by Erin Byrne\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Japan, people expect pizza to taste good. That\u2019s given,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat makes me happy is that New Yorkers seem to enjoy my pizza as something entirely different, almost as its own category.\u201d The openness of New Yorkers\u2019 palates gives Tamaki hope and motivation to keep going.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For newcomers and returners, Pizza Studio Tamaki is coming together with the generations of pizza history it has, but with the ambition and cultural immersion Tamaki brings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people will see PST as a Japanese pizza restaurant that dared to challenge one of the world\u2019s greatest pizza capitals with something truly original,\u201d Tamaki said, \u201ceventually becoming so loved by New Yorkers that it\u2019s simply part of their everyday lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

And to see if that dream will come true, it can be reflected in \u201cother restaurants trying to emulate my pizza.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Pizza Studio Tamaki is located at 123 St Marks Pl. For more information, visit: https:\/\/www.pizzapst.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York doesn\u2019t just magically have the most unique food in the nation; creative individuals like Chef Tsubasa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64,343,61426,613],"class_list":["post-379424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-pizza","tag-pizza-studio-tamaki","tag-pm-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}