By Charlie Pogacar
Sean Jefairjian was still sweating. He’d just spent about 20 minutes preparing and cooking a cheese pizza for the World’s Best Cheese Slice competition, a division of the annual International Pizza Challenge at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. It was the first pizza making competition Jefairjian had ever entered.
Meanwhile, Donatella Arpaia, the lawyer-turned-restaurateur who needs little introduction to those in the pizza community, was out networking on the showroom floor. She hugged old friends, shook hands and took selfies with those she hadn’t yet met. Though she was not judging the World’s Best Cheese Slice division, Arpaia served as judge in the respective Best Pizzamaker and Neapolitan division finals at this year’s International Pizza Challenge. Arpaia is a renowned cookbook author and has earned Michelin Stars at her restaurants but she may be best known to the public as a long-running staple of Iron Chef America, where she serves as a judge.
The following is an attempt to capture what a pizza competition looks like through the respective eyes of a competitor and a judge.
Related: Pizza Expo Highlights: After Eric Redfield Speech, There Wasn’t a Dry Eye In the House
The Competitor
Owner and operator of A Slice of New York in Murrysville, Pennsylvania, Jefairjian has established a reputation as a showman. His persona on social media has been described as controversial, a provocateur, a troll—and that’s just what Jefairjian has called himself. When Dave Portnoy rated Jefairjian’s pizza an 8.2 in a One Bite Review, it only emboldened Jefairjian. It was his “mic drop” moment, a goal he had worked toward for years.
But Dave Portnoy is just one man (albeit, one with very strong opinions and heavy influence). Competing at the International Pizza Challenge is an entirely different animal. Competitions like the World’s Best Cheese Slice feature a panel of judges tasked with separating the “very good” from the “great,” and the “great” from the “excellent.”
As Jefairjian made his pie, friends and family filmed him and cheered him on from the other side of the proverbial ropes. Now, he was standing outside the Pizza Expo showroom floor and staring into a video camera. Michael Fox, founder of Pizza Club, a virtual community for pizzeria owners, was working on a short documentary film.
“I don’t think I could’ve turned in a better pizza at this point,” Jefairjian told Fox. “That’s about the best I can do. I was prepared, I was ready, I got all my practice and reps in. It’s all in the hands of the judges now—so if I do not perform at a high level from the judge’s perspective, there’s nothing I could have done differently at this point.”
The Judge
Between her official duties in Las Vegas this week, Arpaia took a minute to sit down with PMQ Pizza and offer her own perspective on what makes the International Pizza Challenge a unique beast.
“There’s such a volume here, which is quite difficult [as a judge],” Arpaia said. “Like, for example, my chef competed in the sandwich competition yesterday, and there were three judges there all day, and it’s 52 sandwiches. It’s really a lot as a judge to keep your brain going [through that many tastings]. There’s palate fatigue. There’s just a volume play here that’s unlike anything else I’ve seen.”
On Iron Chef America, Arpaia pointed out, one tasting takes about three hours. That three hours is, of course, edited down, but judges are hardly stuffing themselves with food at an alarming rate.
Still, Arpaia is quick to praise the organizers of the International Pizza Challenge, Bill Oakley and Michael LaMarca. She understands they would like to keep the events open to as many people as possible while balancing that against the challenges that face the judges. Furthermore, there are guardrails in place that keep the judging as objective as possible, Arpaia said.
“Bill [Oakley] and Michael [LaMarca] are very committed, every year, to try and make the competition fairer,” Arpaia said. “[For example], they’re doing blind tastings. Now, you kind of lose things with blind tasting, too—because the chef doesn’t get to present [their pizza], which is normally an important part of the process. But, overall, the good outweighs the bad, I think, just to keep it unbiased.”
This assessment of objectivity notably flies in the face of grumblings Arpaia and others have heard regarding the competitions. There is a familiar refrain—often parroted by those who do not perform well—that the competitions are “rigged” or unfair.
“All I know is that it’s too big to rig,” Arpaia said. “It’s all blind. And one rule—and I think it’s a good rule—is that [judges] can’t even talk [amongst themselves] until after we finish eating and scoring. We have to eat, score, and then we can talk to each other about it, and I think that’s how it should be. And nine times out of 10, we’re pretty much in alignment on things.”
The Competition Process
“I’m somebody that typically performs better under pressure and better when I’m nervous,” Jefairjian told PMQ Pizza. “So I was actually taking steps to try to make myself more nervous, because there were times where I’d start to feel a little comfortable. And I think comfortability hurts you.”
What did make Jefairjian nervous, however, was all of the preparation leading up to the competition. He had to pack up all of his supplies—including kitchen equipment, a replica of the peel he uses at his pizzeria, and his 72-hour fermented dough, on ice—and ship it all to his hotel prior to flying out to Las Vegas. The whole shipping operation cost him over $1,000, but it was the best way, he felt, to ensure he had everything he needed to make the best possible pizza. This was just the beginning of his precautions, though.
“Upon arriving in Las Vegas, we made a quasi-kitchen out of our hotel room, using a whole lot of ice in the ice machines just to preserve everything and keep everything as fresh as possible,” Jefairjian said. “And then, as far as arriving [at the convention center] today, I just made sure that everything that needed to get into the fridge went into the fridge…I made sure I didn’t let anybody sabotage any of it. I kept [the dough balls] next to me the whole time with ice packs, just trying to balance time and temperature, which got a little tricky at times.”
While Jefairjian was scheduled to compete at 8:15 that morning, several delays pushed his time slot closer to 10 a.m. When his time came, he set up his station to be an exact replica of his kitchen at A Slice of New York, with ingredients in familiar places. He then went through his pizza-making process and took the long walk over to one of the deck ovens on the competition stage. He placed his cheese pie in the oven, turned it a couple of times, and took it out. The pie was cut into slices for the judges, while Jefairjian passed out the remaining bits and pieces to the crowd that had gathered around his station.
“This being my first time, and not knowing what to expect as far as the behind-the-scenes aspects, [were the biggest challenges],” Jefairjian said. “But again, those are the things that kept me nervous. I think I ultimately produced the best pizza I know how to make.”
The Judge’s Orders
Some of the core truths of competition are also the most difficult to accept: Only one person can win, and somebody has to finish last.
When Arpaia is approached by competitors looking for feedback, she said she’s as honest as possible with them. She told PMQ Pizza the story of a time, two years ago, when a man who finished in second place asked her what he’d done wrong. She reminded him that the judging process is like splitting hairs when you get to the most elite entries, but also gave him some specific feedback about his pie’s presentation. Next year, the man took home first place.
The most common feedback Arpaia gives, however, is more general. “I always tell them, don’t overthink it and don’t do what you think we, as judges, want,” Arpaia said. “I think if you’re going to lose, lose the way you thought you should. Don’t have any doubts. Don’t be like, ‘I put truffle in because I think she likes truffle.’ Don’t do something stupid like that. Elevate your game.”
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Arpaia also believes the fixation on results misses a larger point: Every competition is a learning experience. First-time competitors, she notes, are at a distinct disadvantage—especially if all they take away from the experience is where they placed.
“People miss out on the beauty of this place, where there’s a lot of community and connections, where mentorship can happen,” Arpaia said. “People can talk, and I can give advice that can change something for next year. But if you’re too busy [complaining], you won’t improve.”
And The Winner Is…
Out of 75 competitors, Jefairjian placed 30th in World’s Best Cheese Slice. A silver lining: He finished 10th out of the competitors from the Northeast, a region with particularly high standards for cheese slices. While Jefairjian wasn’t exactly over-the-moon with that result, he took it in stride. There would be no trolling online, at least not today.
“[It] wasn’t the result I was striving for,” Jefairjian wrote on Instagram. “But, as a first-time competitor at the International Pizza Expo, I couldn’t be prouder. This competition is no joke—some of the most respected pizza makers in the world, people I’ve admired for years, and so many incredible friends, both old and new. If I had to sum up my experience in one word, it would be stressful—but in the best way possible.”
“Right after my submission, I said this in an interview, and I stand by it,” Jefairjian continued. “There is absolutely nothing I would do differently. From the logistics to the bake to the final result—I know I put forward my best.”
