By Brian Hernandez

The first annual California Pizza Challenge, held August 25 through 27 at the California Restaurant Show in Los Angeles, was a resounding success, showcasing eight winners overall, two of whom won grand prizes to compete in the World Pizza Championship in Parma, Italy, in April 2025.  The event, which took place in the Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion, was sponsored by Real California Milk.

U.S. Pizza Team member Giovanni Labbate of Tievoli Pizza Bar, located in Palatine, Illinois, won first place in the Non-Traditional category and the 3-Cheese Challenge and claimed the title of grand champion in the Secret Basket Face-Off. Labbate floored the judges with his California Peach Perfect Pizza for his Non-Traditional win, while his entry in the 3-Cheese category was simply dubbed the 3-Cheese Pizza. 

Labbate’s Non-Traditional entry featured a New York-style dough topped with a garlic and olive oil base, peach bacon jam, fresh and shredded mozzarella, burrata, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, basil, grilled peaches, honey, flaky salt and fresh lemon juice. “We knew we were going to California, so we felt California peaches would be perfect for our Peach Perfect Pizza,” Labbate said. “The rest of the pie was really built around that idea.”

Giovanni added, “The 3-Cheese Pizza competition was a great way to highlight California cheeses and to make a simple pizza full of complex flavors. We chose fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella and ricotta because they’re well-balanced cheeses that work very well together.”

Labbate’s grand prize-winning pizza had to use a mixture of secret basket items featuring Cowgirl Creamery Wagon Wheel, Sierra Jack Hatch Chile and San Joaquin Gold cheeses, plus blueberry-infused bacon, Margherita Genoa Salami, white sweet potatoes and tree oyster mushrooms. Labbate’s creation, made on a New York artisan dough, showcased a garlic and oil sauce base with fresh spinach, roasted white sweet potatoes, blueberry bacon, peach bacon jam, Wagon Wheel cheese, mozzarella, red onions and shaved Asiago cheese.

“Everyone brought their top pizza game this year,” said judge and honorary USPT member Rudy Waldner of Marketing from the Trenches. “With so many different categories, it really allowed the pizzaioli’s creativity to flow, even when bound by strict category rules, like in the 3-Cheese Challenge.”

Winning first place in the Pizza in the Pan contest was Tore Trupiano of Mangia e Bevi, who also took second place in the Secret Basket Face-Off.

Rounding out the culinary event was George Taylor of Taylors’ Pizza House, who earned top honors in the Best Traditional Sauce event. Kira Zabrowski of Much Ado About Pizza, located in Pleasanton, California, took second place and achieved the only perfect score in the entire competition for her Best Traditional Sauce entry.

Dominating the athletic field was superstar David Whisker of B.C. Pizza in Boyne City, Michigan. He successfully defended his titles in both the Fastest Pie Maker and Fastest Box Folder competitions. In a seemingly unending battle for second and third place in the athletic games, Jamie Culliton and McKenna Carney of The Nona Slice House, located in Safety Harbor, Florida, passed the baton back and forth.

But when it came to Freestyle Acrobatics, Carney pulled out all the stops with a mesmerizing routine set to “Applause” by Lady Gaga. McCarney won her fourth trip to Parma. “Competing is always fun,” she said. “You get to come out and see all your friends and support each other, but winning is pretty cool too.”

Here’s a look at the overall results:

Non-Traditional:
1^st—Giovanni Labbate, Tievoli Pizza Bar, Palatine, IL
2^nd—Alex Koons, Hot Tongue Pizza, Los Angeles, CA
3^rd—Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House, Safety Harbor, FL

Pizza in the Pan
1^st—Tore Trupiano, Mangia e Bevi, Oceanside, CA
2^nd—Dustin Finnegan, The Nona Slice House
3^rd—Michael Pitera, Pizza a Modo Mio, Charleston, S.C.

REAL California 3-Cheese Challenge:
1^st—Giovanni Labbate, Tievoli Pizza Bar
2^nd—Ali Haider, 786 Degrees, Sun Valley, CA
3^rd—Nicholi Ludlow, Psychic Pie, Sebastopol, CA

Best Traditional Sauce:
1^st—George Taylor, Taylors’ Pizza House, Endwell, NY
2^nd—Kira Zabrowski, Much Ado About Pizza, Pleasanton, CA
3^rd—Rico Lunardi, Slice on Broadway, Pittsburgh, PA

Freestyle Acrobatics:
1^st—McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House
2^nd—Gracie Vinson, The Nona Slice House
3^rd—Dustin Finnegan, The Nona Slice House

Largest Dough Stretch:
1^st—McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House
2^nd—Wilhelm Rodriguez, Papa’s Pizza, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico   
3^rd—Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House

Fastest Pie Maker:
1^st—David Whisker, B.C. Pizza
2^nd—Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House
3^rd—McKenna Carney, The Nona Slice House

Fastest Box Folder
1^st—David Whisker, B.C. Pizza, Boyne City, MI
2^nd—Jamie Culliton, The Nona Slice House
3^rd—Sean Dempsey, Dempsey’s Brewery, Pub & Restaurant, Watertown, S.D.

For more details, pictures and scores, visit www.uspizzateam.com/cpc24