Friday 20 April 2007

The winner of the Queensland State Final in the Traditional Category of the Dairy Farmers Best of the Best Pizza Challenge is Mark Paterno of Arriva Italian Restaurant in New Farm, Brisbane.

Triumphant at Monday’s cook-off in Brisbane, Mark goes into the National Finals to be held in Sydney in September at Fine Food Australia.

In this, the tenth anniversary year of the Dairy Farmers Best of the Best Pizza Challenge, the competition format has expanded to include two different categories. On the first day, five competitors cook off to find the best traditional pizza maker, and on the second a different group compete to find the best gourmet pizza maker in the state.

The other Tradtional Category finalists were;

• Simon Best – Augello’s, Mooloolaba

• Andrew Berry – Pier Bar & Grill, Cairns

• Nasser Javanmard – Basilico, Southport

• David Sweeney – Narangba Valley Tavern, Narangba

Winners of awards for the best pizzas in the day’s various sub -categories were;

• Best Smallgoods Pizza – Mark Paterno – Arriva Italian Restaurant, New Farm

• Best Specialty Pizza – Mark Paterno – Arriva Italian Restaurant, New Farm

• Best Cheese Pizza – David Sweeney – Narangba Valley Tavern, Narangba

The pizzas were all judged by a panel of three professional cooks on a range of elements including originality, creativity, menu balance, use of ingredients and total appeal.

In addition to Dairy Farmers, the following are major sponsors: Natural Gas, K R Castlemaine, Watson’s Catering Equipment and Spyral Food Equipment.