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San Diego Restaurant Headed By Canyon High Grad Named One Of Top 8 Pizzerias Nationwide
Norbert Moniz of Blind Lady Ale House.

San Diego Restaurant Headed By Canyon High Grad Named One Of Top 8 Pizzerias Nationwide

A San Diego-based restaurant headed by Santa Clarita native Norbert Moniz was named one of the top eight pizzerias in the country by the Travel Channel’s hit show “Food Paradise,” and is set to be featured on an episode airing Saturday at 3 p.m.


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Moniz currently acts as the executive chef for the popular pizzeria, called Blind Lady Ale House, in addition to a second restaurant in the San Diego area, Tiger Tiger Tavern.

San Diego Restaurant Headed By Canyon High Grad Named One Of Top 8 Pizzerias Nationwide

Norbert Moniz of Blind Lady Ale House.

“It’s a huge honor,” Moniz said of Blind Lady Ale House’s recognition. “It’s really cool that everyone’s hard work there has really paid off, really caring for the quality product that we put out gets appreciated.”

Moniz described the pizzeria has having a laidback atmosphere, with regular patrons who dine there as often as seven days a week.

“It’s just a really homey vibe,” he said. “There’s people that go in there and eat every day that we’re open.”

While this is the restaurant’s most recent recognition, it has also been named one of America’s 100 best beer bars by DRAFT Magazine every year since it first opened seven years ago.

An ‘07 Canyon High School grad, Moniz grew up in the Santa Clarita Valley and returns often to visit family and help out with their business, A Royal Suite. He attended culinary school in San Francisco before moving to Santa Barbara for about a year, where he ran a restaurant at just 19 years old.

Moniz then found himself living in Chicago, Illinois for the next five years, where he worked with now-esteemed chefs like Stephanie Izard, who went on to become the first female winner of Bravo’s “Top Chef” during the show’s fourth season.

“My grandfather has always been huge into food, so growing up, watching him cook and cooking with him has always been a big influence,” Moniz said of his decision to pursue a career as a chef, adding that he enjoys using his creativity to make different dishes.

“I’m not much of an artistic person, so it’s kind of cool to have that side,” he said.

Out of the wide variety of pizzas he makes at Blind Lady Ale House, Moniz noted his favorite is the Neapolitan-style margherita pizza, which he described as “nice and simple.”

“One of the owners came up with the recipe from going to an Italian pizza school up in L.A.,” he said. “It’s just really flavorful and the bite on it is beautiful.”

Because of the extensive amount of managerial tasks Moniz is responsible for as executive chef at both Blind Lady Ale House and Tiger Tiger Tavern, he is in the process of wrapping up his last week at both restaurants so he can focus more on what he loves: cooking.

Stephen Gage is set to take over Moniz’s position as executive chef at Blind Lady Ale House, while Jaime Lozano is expected to step into his role at Tiger Tiger Tavern.

“I’m taking a little bit of time to check out some other restaurants and see what I want to do next,” Moniz said. “I’m in talks with a couple different people (about) taking on another role with them… just to get back to more cooking.”

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San Diego Restaurant Headed By Canyon High Grad Named One Of Top 8 Pizzerias Nationwide

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About Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch

Melissa Lampert-Abramovitch has been writing for KHTS since Feb. 2014. She currently writes “Community Spotlight” and feature stories, and coordinates all aspects of both the”KHTS Adopt a Pet” video feature series and “Top Things to Do in Santa Clarita.” She is the creator of “KHTS Adopt a Pet” and acted as News Editor from 2019-2020, as well as Features Director and Newsroom Manager from 2016-2018. A former Valley Publications Staff Writer, Melissa was a contributor to the Santa Clarita Gazette and Canyon Country Magazine from 2015-2016. She has published feature stories with Pet Me Magazine, The Pet Press, The Signal, COC's Cougar News, and KJAMS Radio.