|
Oliveri
of the soon-to-open Pizzeria La Regina was one of four finalists in this
year’s bake-off, hosted for the first time by Moretti Forni Canada at their
Dupont Avenue location in Toronto. Oliveri was the pizzeria/kitchen manager
at The Grand Pizzeria and Bar at the time of his entry, and since his
departure during the contest has been running an Italian food catering business
with pizza as its primary offering. His new restaurant is registered and has
a fully developed menu and once open will incorporate his current catering
business. Oliveri narrowly edged by Marina Rondinelli of Rondo’s and Pizza
Plus in Bright’s Grove, Ont., who submitted a ‘Blazing BBQ’ pulled pork
pizza.
The
remaining finalists, Tom Stankiewicz of Bondi’s Pizza and Rick Nixon of Itza
Ristorante & Pizzeria, tied and will receive honourable mentions in
Canadian Pizza magazine for their O Sole Mio and Italian Garden recipes,
respectively.
Oliveri’s
win will see him cash in on a trip to the Las Vegas Pizza Expo from March 1
to 3, $1000 cash, a cover feature in Canadian Pizza and a guaranteed spot in
finals for the Traditional category of the pizza making competition. His
winning entry featured a cream of broccoli sauce, sausage, grilled red
peppers, red onions, mozzarella and parmiggiano cheese.
As
runner-up, Rondinelli has also won a trip to the Expo and entry into the
preliminaries of the non-traditional category of competition.
On
February 9, all four finalists shipped their ingredients, including their own
dough, sauce and toppings to the Moretti Forni kitchen, where they were baked
and scored by a panel of seven judges, including representatives from
Canadian Pizza magazine, Moretti Forni and the contest’s sponsor, Saputo.
Stay
tuned for the April/May issue of Canadian Pizza magazine, which will feature
Oliveri on the cover and all the finalists' recipes.
|
