Foodie: Ed Sahm Plays with Fire

Gray hair peeks from under a baseball cap as Ed Sahm flings pizza dough into the air, leaving his labor’s proof dusted on his T-shirt and apron. The owner of six restaurants and manager of five more, he dresses less like the successful businessman that he is and more like the Purdue University college kid he once was, working at Domino’s and dreaming of owning a pizzeria. Nearly three decades after opening his first restaurant, those early pie-in-the-sky ideas are finally coming to fruition in his latest venture, Rockstone Pizzeria Pub—tucked in next to Sahm’s flagship location in Fishers.
“I loved making my own dough, and I always wanted to open a pizza place, but time gets away from you,” Sahm says about his new digs, which are equipped with a wood-burning stone oven that transforms homemade dough into ingeniously topped pies with clever names like Wiki Wahoo and Meatzorilla. “People are shocked to see me in the kitchen,” Sahm says. “They ask, ‘Are you still cooking?’ What else would I be doing? I love it.”
Ed Sahm’s Favorite Things
1) Red wine: “I’ll drink the last of whatever is at the bar and move on to the next bottle.”
2) Taco night: “When we go on vacation, I’ll pack a suitcase of stuff for tacos and cook all day.”
3) Soy sauce: “It’s a great flavor-enhancer. I use it in all my barbecue sauces.”
4) Local brews: “The Bier Brewery guys are probably my favorite. They make small batches, so they run out pretty often. When we get their pumpkin ale, we sell out in about an hour.”
5) Biscuits and gravy: “In college, I’d finish my shift at Harry’s Chocolate Shop at 3:30 a.m. and make biscuits and gravy for all my friends. People would show up with cans of biscuits.”
 
This article appeared in the February 2014 issue.