Competitors from Europe, Asia and North America take center stage at the Fifth Annual New York Pizza Showcase, Sunday, March 1 through Tuesday, March 3 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. PMQ Pizza Magazine’s New York Pizza Showcase coincides with the International Restaurant and Foodservice Show. In addition to pizza industry trade displays, the show features amazing competitions and tributes to dynamic personalities who have shaped the industry.

Titans of the pizza industry from Italy, the Czech Republic, China and the United States will vie for the America’s Plate (www.americasplate.com), signifying the best pizza in the world. Each piemaster defeated quality competition in earning national championships to earn a berth in America’s premier pizza taste-test. Michael Amheiser of Fredericktown, Ohio, will represent the USA. Pizzas are judged on appearance, taste, creativity and commercial viability. The America’s Plate begins Monday beginning at 5:30 p.m. Media are invited at Cha Cha’s, 13 Mulberry Street in Little Italy, and for the award presentations Tuesday at the Javits Center at 1:45 p.m.

An open competition takes place for the final spots on the U.S. Pizza Team. Participants square off Monday, March 2, in Fastest Pizza Maker (noon), Largest Dough Stretch (2:30 p.m.) and Freestyle Dough Throwing (Tuesday, March 3 at 1:30 p.m.). Winners, who will represent the USA in world championships in Salsamaggiore, Italy, will be announced immediately afterward. The world’s best acrobatic pizza spinners compete Tuesday, 2:30 p.m.

Pizza-spinning and acrobatics will be performed by former World Gold medalists Chris Green, Patt Miller and Ryan LaRose all three days.

Lifetime Achievement awards will be presented to Brooklyn’s Dom DeMarco of Di Fara’s Pizza and Chef Santo Bruno. DeMarco, 72, is known as the Cal Ripken of the pizza world, and Bruno, originally from Brooklyn, travels worldwide as a pizza consultant. They will be inducted in the Pizza Hall of Fame (www.pizzahalloffame.org) Monday at 10:15 a.m.

PMQ, the international voice of the pizza industry, publishes U.S., Canadian, Chinese and Australian/New Zealand editions with circulation exceeding 50,000. The company’s website, PMQ.com, is the official website of the pizza industry.