Two Chefs of the Year crowned at Summit

Toronto – Canada’s top pizza makers were named at the Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions. 

This year two winners shared the title of Chef of the Year. Chef of the Year (Traditional) is Giuseppe Cortinovis of Ignite Pizzeria in Vancouver. Chef of the Year (Open) is Dean Litster of Armando’s Pizza in Windsor, Ont.

Cortinovis’ pizza is called The Queen, a twist on the Margherita, while Litster’s winning entry was a creative pizza he dubbed The Dean Martin.

Marco Caveglia of Tuscan Wolf Pizzeria in Whitby, Ont., took second in the Open; Maurizio Mascioli of Maurizio’s Inc. in Parry Sound, Ont., took third place.

Congratulations to all the winners and to the enthusiastic pizzerias who attended the show and cheered them on!

James Timothy of Zen’Za Pizzeria in London, Ont., triumphed in the Great Pizza Box Fold-Off after folding 10 large boxes in one minute, 3.7 seconds.

Thank you to our judges, Joe Leroux of Amadio’s Pizza in Port Credit, Ont.; Roberto Vergalito of Roberto’s Pizza Passion in St. Catharines, Ont.; Tom Stankiewicz of Bondi’s Pizza in London, Ont.; Kyle Rindinella of Enoteca Sociale in Toronto; and Rocco Agostino of Pizzeria Libretto and Enoteca Sociale in Toronto.

Informative education sessions were led by Dale Willerton, The Lease Coach, on 13 mistakes operators make when leasing; David Coletto of Abacus Data on the millennial mindset; Service Canada on getting a Labour Market Impact Assessment as a step toward applying to hire a Temporary Foreign Worker; and Mike von Massow of the University of Guelph on how pizzerias can adapt to the changing delivery landscape.

Canadian Pizza would like to thank Faema Canada/Moretti Forni Ovens for hosting the event at their showroom, a lovely renovated Ford plant on Dupont Street in Toronto. 

The Canadian Pizza Summit and Chef of the Year Competitions are presented by Canadian Pizza magazine and supported by Platinum sponsor Moretti Forni distributed by Faema Canada, Gold sponsors Ardent Mills and Parmalat/Galbani, and Silver sponsor Escalon Premier Brands/Heinz, as well as our amazing exhibitors.

Check out highlights of the show in our Facebook photo gallery and look for more coverage of the event online and in upcoming issues of Canadian Pizza magazine.

View and share these videos:
Canadian Pizza Summit highlights (courtesy Frank Mazzuca)
Chef of the Year awards recap (courtesy Faema Culinary Academy)

Watch for more in the coming weeks in the video section at canadianpizzamag.com!