Meet Jesse Taylor | Chef / Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jesse Taylor and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesse, how do you think about risk?
It’s always been key for us to remember that there is no growth without risk. The risks you take for your business don’t have to be a major gamble. Starting a business is a minefield of risk to begin with. As business owners we try to look at it as an opportunity to evaluate where we want to go with our vision and not just walk through it all but hit the ground running.

It could be something as small as changing a recipe to changing your packaging to moving across the country to start anew. Every risk we’ve taken has lead us to a new understanding of what we can do and a new vision of where we can go with it all. There’s something magical that happens when you take chance on something you truly believe in. A pathway kind of opens up to a new level of understanding and reward. You’ll never know what you’re capable of until to rise to meet the challenge.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Nona Rosa Pizza was born from a love story—first between two people, then between music and food. It all began in New York, when producer/writer Jesse Taylor met artist/writer Kimberlie Ince (now Ince-Taylor). We connected instantly over a shared passion for music that pushed boundaries—experimenting with sound, playing with genre, and chasing the perfect lyric. That creative fire became the heart of our relationship.

Eventually, we made the leap to Los Angeles in search of bigger opportunities. But when the world shut down during COVID, we found ourselves needing to pivot. What began as a survival plan quickly turned into a new obsession: pizza. We poured the same intensity and artistry we brought to music into crafting a pie that felt just as bold and original. For a full year, we obsessed over dough—testing, tweaking, tasting—until we landed on a recipe that became the foundation of Nona Rosa Pizza: our edible love letter to creativity and reinvention.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Currently, We love a few new spots, and have just about every date night there, Spina in Atwater Village. As well as Donna’s in Silverlake, Some of the best Italian food we’ve had outside of Italy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d have to say I wouldn’t be doing this with out the mentorship and guidance of my close childhood friend Phil Brynildsen Chef/Owner of Criscito Pizza in San Diego. I had the opportunity of working with him, seeing how the business is run and seeing the opportunity of what we could grow into in LA, as he was in his 8th year of operation, and before covid catering over 300 events a year. It was so important to have him through the gauntlet of the first 2 years of business, simply encouraging and guiding us to the right spots and showing us how build out the business.

Website: https://www.nonarosapizza.com

Instagram: @nonarsoapizza

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nona-rosa-pizza-glendale?osq=Nona+Rosa+Pizza

Image Credits
Mark Kelly
Ed Romo