Artisanal LA has become a proving ground for food and drink related concepts that demonstrate a commitment to local, sustainable and handmade philosophy. From April 16 – 17, event organizer Shawna Dawson gathered more than 90 vendors in a vacant space on the top floor of Santa Monica Place. Attendees got their first tastes from tenants at The Market, a 45,000-square-foot, multiple booth venue in Santa Monica Place that opens on May 20, and several other concepts could easily achieve breakout status as well. Each artisan has a story, and we have eight tales to tell, including a pizzaiolo.

Mystic Pizza founder Lawrence Lewis is a film producer by trade and in his spare time, and by request, produces Neapolitan-inspired pizzas in a minute flat, at 850 degrees, in a modified Weber grill.

Josh Lurie: What was the moment you knew that you’d do this?

Lawrence Lewis: I’ve always been obsessed with pizza, since I was a little kid. Even in high school I tried to make pizza at home, failed tremendously, couldn’t figure it out and didn’t have any resources. I kept trying, and as I grew up, I kept experimenting, testing, reading and trying. Last summer – I freelance and had a couple months off during the summer – I spent some of that time at home making pizza. I kept making it, and making it, and perfecting it. I had taste test parties with my friends and had everyone try it and finally got it how I like it. It’s Neapolitan style pizza, but I’m not trying to imitate or recreate that, because we’re here in L.A.; I can’t make it exactly like that. It’s the kind of pizza I like and like to eat. So once I had it, my friends started saying, “You should sell this. I’d buy this pizza.” People started texting me on their way home from work and I’d make them a pizza if I wasn’t working and sell it to them. Then I started having little parties. People would start coming up and it just kind of became a thing.

JL: That’s how you came up with the name? Was it really mystical?

LL: Exactly, it was a mystical thing that you could just text someone and people would show up. It really had nothing to do with the movie or the other pizza place called Mystic Pizza. It just was a kind of funny thing between my friends, it stuck and grew into this.

JL: So you use Beyond the Olive olive oil, Gioia mozzarella…

LL: Yeah, all made locally.

JL: House-made sauce?

LL: Yeah, I make the sauce myself. I use imported San Marzano tomatoes. Beyond the Olive in Pasadena, they bottle their olive oil in Southern California, so that’s local. And I also use Italian sausage from McCall’s on Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz. That’s homemade. The cheese is fresh every day.

JL: If people can only eat one of these pizzas, what should it be?

LL: The Margherita is the classic. It’s the simplest, tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil. It’s so simple, you can really taste the flavor in the dough, you can really taste the flavor in the cheese, and it all combines into this magical thing. I love it.

JL: What’s your availability?

LL: Pop-up events, private parties, home catering. I’m mobile, so I can make pizza anywhere I go.

JL: Do you have any pop-up events planned?

LL: Not right now, I’ve been focusing on this. We’re also going to do Unique LA. And there’s another craft fair that I do called Bitchcraft. It’s in Atwater Village at the Complex in May.