Peter Dorrance and Eric Ehler
Outta Sight Pizza and Reggie and Maude's | San Francisco, CA
September 2026
It was the Bay Area's skate culture that initially drew Eric Ehler, a culinary school graduate, from Iowa to San Francisco. After moving to the Bay Area, Ehler started picking up shifts at Serpentine and Slow Club, where he was inspired by Chef Danny Bowien's outside-of-the-box cooking. Ehler then joined Luke's Local, a grocery store, as culinary director before moving to Black Sands Brewery as the executive chef. In 2017, Ehler became a sous chef at Chef Brandon Jew's Mister Jiu's. After a health scare on the line, Ehler took some time off before becoming the culinary director of Fort Point Beer Company. When the pandemic hit, it ignited Ehler's long-time ambition to start a business of his own. So, in the summer of 2020, he started hosting a pizza pop-up with the intent to make the world a little better, "one slice at a time." As the pop-up started to pick up steam, he called his friend, Peter Dorrance, for help.
After years working on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, Dorrance, a commercial boat captain at the time, was eager to get back on dry land and into a kitchen. He attended San Francisco Cooking School in 2015, and soon after, got an internship at Mister Jiu's, where he met Ehler, his future partner-in-pizza. After two years there, Dorrance moved to Eight Tables, a fine-dining Chinese restaurant, but quickly felt the effects of burn-out. Dorrance briefly returned to his seafaring roots, working on boats, before Ehler reached out. In 2022, Dorrance became the operating partner of Ehler's burgeoning business, Outta Sight Pizza. Since then, the pair have opened two brick-and-mortar pizza shops in the Tenderloin and Chinatown, serving New York-style pizza with creative Bay Area spins on classic pies. Ehler and Dorrance have also shaped their business around the community, providing slices and support to those in the area. From collaborating with local businesses like Lunette to supporting organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco, Ehler and Dorrance know that a simple slice can be a vehicle for empathy and togetherness. In the fall of 2026, they plan to open a similarly community-minded dive bar in the Tenderloin called Reggie & Maude's.2026 StarChefs San Francisco-Oakland Rising Stars Award Winner
