Who the Heck is Howie?

In 1981, recognizing an enormous vocational error, Howard Bulka left San Francisco State University with a Bachelors Degree in Economics and began cooking professionally. Since then, he’s worked as a cook, chef, restaurateur and consultant. His travels have taken him all over the world, working for restaurants, wineries, hotels and resorts, retail centers, gourmet product manufacturers, and into the kitchens of some of the world’s most celebrated chefs. He’s learned important lessons from them all and amassed a truly extraordinary body of restaurant industry knowledge, not to mention recipes, cookbooks, knives and scars. He’s done many things in the wacky world of restaurants, but the kitchen and the craft of cooking have always been his singular underlying passion.

For the years 2001 to 2008, Howard was the chef and proprietor of Marche, a highly acclaimed fine dining establishment in Menlo Park, consistently ranked among the best Bay Area restaurants. Howard left Marche last year to devote his attentions to the development of Howie's Artisan Pizza.

Prior to building Marche, Howard spent a decade working as a consultant to the restaurant industry - mostly in the areas of concept development, business planning and kitchen operations. As the opening Executive Chef of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in San Francisco, he was the driving force behind Silks, which gained recognition as one of the city’s finest restaurants. Before that, he rose through the ranks in some of California’s most celebrated restaurants, including La Toque, Square One, Narsai’s, Chez Panise, and “a bunch of fancy hotels and a whole lot more.”

The experience he most values is the year (1986) that he and his wife spent in France – working and traveling their way through the country. It was here that Howard had the opportunity to work with two great talents, Paul Bocuse and the late Alain Chapel. France changed his professional and personal life in “the most profound and marvelous ways.”

Today, Howard lives on the Peninsula with his “incredible” wife and son. “When I’m not cooking, writing, or gathered around the table with friends, I like to read, tend to my garden, work with wood and, of course, hang out with my family.”

About Howie's	What is Artisan Pizza?
Howie’s Fact Sheet	Why Artisan Pizza is Important
Who the Heck is Howie?	About Howie’s Design

Press Releases

A Great Pizza Comes to Palo Alto! (December 2009)

In the News

Melinda Sacks, Mercury News Quick Bite: Howie's Artisan Pizza in Palo Alto
Thin, yeasty crust, bubbly brown at the edges, and lovely toppings applied sparsely so their true flavors shined through, plus a charming owner working the dough in his gray T-shirt, then coming out to our table to ask how we liked our meal. What's not to like? 
(01/21/10)

Gutenberg, Daily Feed
We were eventually presented with our nicely blistered pizza…a good 'za with a chewy crust.

What they're Yelping about:

• (5 stars) "We will definitely go back for more pizza!"

• (5 stars) "Sooo very glad to find a great pizza spot closer to home than San Francisco."

• (5 stars) "It is "as good as it gets" on the peninsula, and better than that…"

• (4 stars) "Probably one of the best thin crust pizza places on the Peninsula."

• (4 stars) "The pizza was delicious. The crust was just the right amount of crunchy, crisp and and bready - a hard combination to figure out."

CHOW
…Howie sure makes some fine pizza. 
(01/08/10)

ABC-7 The View from the Bay
Learn how to make your own homemade pizza dough topped with handmade ricotta cheese and fennel sausage with Howard Bulka of Howie's.
(01/04/2010)

SanJose.com Chef Howard Bulka Studies the fine art of a perfect slice in Palo Alto
Howie’s pizza is a blend of styles and borrows a little from the blackened, blistered and bubbling-crust New York school with the thin, elemental style of a Neapolitan pizza ... Howie’s pizzas rank among the best I’ve had in the Bay Area.
(12/23/2009)

Chrissa Ventrelle, Bay Area News Group: Artisanal pizza makers carry more than a little obsession Like an artisan bread baker, Bulka is part scientist, part artist …
(12/16/2009)

Nadav Gavrielov, Campanile (the Paly Voice): Howie's is student friendly and delicious
…with its welcoming atmosphere and sleek design, provides a delicious meal for pizza fanatics while still producing an equally enjoyable experience for those who are looking for different types of food.
(12/14/09)

Linda Zavoral, Mercury News: A la Carte: Howie's Artisan Pizza in Palo Alto
Bulka's long-awaited eatery, Howie's Artisan Pizza, has opened in Palo Alto's renovated Town & Country Shopping Center, and the place is already slammed with diners eager to try his take on thin-crust, wood oven-baked pies ...
(12/01/2009)

Food Gal, Carolyn Jung: Howie’s Artisan Pizza Delivers on the Crust
It may have opened less than two weeks ago, but Howie’s is already selling up to 250 pies a day now and packing in the crowds for his version of East Coast pizza ...
(December 2009)

Keckler, Grub Report: 'Burb Burps: Howie's Artisan Pizza
I wish you "pizza long life" and give you Howie's Artisan Pizza Perfection. This crust met and exceeded all my expectation…
(November 28, 2009)

Food Gal, Carolyn Jung: Howard Bulka’s Pizza Joint
For all you Peninsula types who have been waiting with hunger pains, word is that Howie’s Artisan Pizza is expected to open in November ...
(October 2009)

Food Gal, Carolyn Jung: Five with Howard Bulka, A Chef Possessed By Pizza
After six years of meticulously crafting sophisticated dishes at Marche in Menlo Park, Chef Howard Bulka…walked away — for the lure of pizza ...
(March 2009)