Jimmy Kimmel's Friend Chef Chris Bianco Says His New LA Pizzeria Means 'I Get to See More Jimmy'
Andrew Toth/Getty
Chef Chris Bianco opened the first Los Angeles location of his award-winning restaurant Pizzeria Bianco in June. And while he's excited to expand outside of the Phoenix area, where his five original restaurants are, he's most looking forward to cooking for his supportive friends, and that includes comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
"Jimmy is one of my dearest friends and one of the greatest people on this planet," Bianco, who's on this season of Netflix's Chef's Table: Pizza, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "He does so much for so many and I'm truly honored to have him for a friend. He's just one of the best people on the planet. That's another good thing about California, I get to see more Jimmy, and my friends here."
Bianco and Kimmel met about 20 years ago when the talk show host read an article about the restaurateur's establishments before going home to Phoenix to visit his father for the holidays. Little did he know, he would be waiting just like everyone else to get into Bianco's Arizona hot spot.
RELATED: The Great American Baking Show Names Ellie Kemper and Zach Cherry as Co-Hosts
Andrew Toth/Getty
"I said, 'We have to go there next time I come," Kimmel, 54, shares with PEOPLE over a slice at the new Downtown LA location to celebrate the launch of Chef's Table: Pizza. "Next time it was Christmas time and he was closed because he made all the pizzas. I said, 'All right, we'll try again next year.' Next year, closed again. Third year I'm like, 'We got to figure this out. I'm going to come early so we can go to the restaurant.' We went and I just stood at the counter watching him make pizzas and struck up a conversation with him and that's when I invited him to do the show."
The Pizzeria Bianco owner has now appeared on Kimmel's show numerous times, but it wasn't easy to get him on right away.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"Maybe I'll sound like a jerk for saying this, but this restaurant would not be here had I not pulled Chris away from his oven for five minutes," Kimmel jokes. "When I met him, he made every pizza himself. I wanted him to be on the show and he said, 'Well, I'd like to, but the restaurant is open every night,' and I said, 'Doesn't anyone else there know how to make the pizzas?' and he said, 'Yeah, they do.' I said, 'All right, well, let them make pizza for one night.'"
Andrew Toth/Getty
The James Beard Award winner is happy to be in the Golden State, serving his creative wood-fired, Neapolitan-American pizzas for the guests that walk through his doors.
RELATED: Get a First Look at Netflix's Chef's Table: Pizza Plus All the Food Shows Coming This Fall
"I spend a lot of time in Northern California," Bianco shares. "My wife has family here in LA and I've been coming there for a very long time to be inspired."
Andrew Toth/Getty
Knowing that the LA pizza scene is serious business, Bianco is feeling excited to be a part of the competition while getting outside of his comfort zone.
"LA didn't need me at all," says Bianco. "I needed it in a way. I don't know, I needed to do something in this point in my life that was not safe, I guess."
You can catch Bianco along with other pizza chefs including Gabriel Bonci, Ann Kim, Franco Pepe, Yoshihiro Imai and Sarah Minnick on Chef's Table: Pizza, streaming now on Netflix.
