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Hulu dropped a new reality TV cooking competition show, Best in Dough, with host Adam Wells and several new judges, including head judge Daniele Uditi. If he looks familiar, but you can’t quite place why you’re not alone. This isn’t his first time participating in a reality TV competition show, but it is his first time as a judge. Here’s why the head judge in Best in Dough, Daniele Uditi, looks so familiar. 

Daniele Uditi competed in The Food Network’s ‘Beat Bobby Flay’

Viewers might recognize the head judge, Daniele Uditi, from Netflix’s The Chef Show or Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay. In the Food Network series, Uditi beat Chris Thompson and Bobby Flay in season 23, episode 3, “That’s Amore.” The episode first aired on Jan. 12, 2020, but is available for streaming on the Food Network Go app.

Netflix’s The Chef Show is a documentary-style cooking show featuring director and actor John Favreau and chef Roy Choi. Uditi joined the show as a guest chef in Volumes 2 and 3 of the series.

He also appeared as Chef Daniele in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful from 2013 to 2014. 

Daniele Uditi has a restaurant with a Michelin Bib Gourmand rating

For viewers who reside in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, or Sherman Oaks, California, you might recognize Uditi from his award-winning restaurant, Pizzana. The famous pizza shop is featured in numerous prestigious magazines. It also received the Michelin Bib Gourmand Award for “offering exceptionally good food at moderate prices.” Pizzana has made the Los Angeles Times top 101 restaurants list and various other accolades since opening in 2017.

Uditi teamed up with Caroline and Chris O’Donnell and Candance and Charles Nelson to form Pizzana. They met at the O’Donnell’s Sunday Night Pizza Parties, and the idea for the restaurant was born. There are currently three Pizzana locations and a new shop coming soon in Dallas, Texas.

The pizza restaurant specializes in pizza dough crafted in the Neapolitan tradition, and then fermented and proofed for two days. The Pizzana menu features unique specials that change frequently and travelers won’t want to miss. 

Daniele Uditi has a cookbook available for purchase

'Best in Dough': Eunji Kim, Wells Adams, and Daniele Uditi sitting together at the judges' table
‘Best in Dough’: Eunji Kim, Wells Adams, and Daniele Uditi | Michael Desmond/Hulu
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Before Daniele Uditi opened Pizzana or began appearing in cooking shows like Best in Dough, he grew up in Naples, Italy. According to Uditi’s website, he began baking loaves of bread at the age of 12 in the family business. In 2010, Uditi traveled to the United States and began work as a consulting chef for Italian restaurants in the Los Angeles area. However, he loved the California produce so much that he never left. He began making pizza for private parties and that’s where Uditi met the O’Donnells and the Nelsons. They teamed up to create Pizzana, and the rest is history. 

However, Uditi continues to work outside the restaurant by creating a cookbook series. Ricettario Vol. 1 – Sourdough is the first in a seven-volume cookbook series. It gives readers all of the insight to become a great baker at home.

Best in Dough dropped the first three episodes to Hulu on Sept. 19, 2022. But, unlike Netflix, the streaming service makes viewers wait a full week between new episodes. Best in Dough Episodes 4-6 hit Hulu on Sept. 26, 2022.

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