Canadian Pizza Chef of the Year judges announced

Mississauga, Ont. – Canadian Pizza magazine is honoured to have pizza industry greats Ettore Pugliese, Marina Rondinelli, Gabriele Paganelli, Diana Cline and Giorgio Taverniti will serve as judges for Canadian Pizza’s Chef of the Year competition at the Canadian Pizza Show on Oct. 17 in Mississauga.

Ettore Pugliese runs Vesuvio Pizzeria & Spaghetti House in Toronto, a family-owned and -operated perennial favourite since 1957.

The former owner of Rondo’s Bar & Eatery in Sarnia, Ont., Pizza Plus Corunna and Pizza Plus Petrolia, Marina Rondinelli twice placed third in Best Traditional Pizza at the International Pizza Challenge, and twice was runnerup for Canadian Pizza Chef of the Year. She now serves as a consultant.

Besides being professor in the Italian culinary program at George Brown College, Gabriele Paganelli is executive chef at Paganelli Bar-Osteria in Bolton and founder of Speducci Mercatto.

Giorgio Taverniti owns Frank’s Pizza House in Toronto, which has been in his family since 1990. A graduate of George Brown College’s culinary management and Italian culinary programs, Giorgio helped found a popular pizza-making workshop at the college. He is a columnist for Canadian Pizza.

Diana Cline is a two-time Canadian Pizza magazine Chef of the Year champion, internationally recognized gourmet pizzaiolo, partner with Diana’s Cucina & Lounge in Winnipeg and a director for the CRFA [now Restaurants Canada] from 2009-2013. She is a longtime columnist for Canadian Pizza.

Enter now to show us your pizza-making skills, pick up tips from other chefs and win prizes! In addition to their Chef of the Year and Runner-up titles, the winner and runner-up each earn a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the International Pizza Challenge at Pizza Expo in March 2017. Other awards are up for grabs as well. Show your customers you are a cutting-edge pizzeria by displaying your winning plaque or competitor certificate in your pizzeria!

Canadian Pizza Show sponsors are Saputo Foodservice, PizzaMaster distributed by Alfa Food Service and Stanislaus Food Products. Chef of the Year competition is sponsored by Saputo Foodservice, Moretti Forni, Escalon Premier Brands and Ardent Mills.

The show is free for those who own or work in a restaurant or in food service. Details may be found here.

See you there!