The Italians created pizza, but can you believe that they had never heard of Chicago style pizza? That's until Leo Spizzirri made some noise amongst the best pizza makers in the world. Leo, the Executive Chef for Giordano's 46 locations, is now a member of the World Pizza Champions team. He is considered to be one of the best pizza makers in the world, and his specialty is stuffed pizza.
Leo has been trained by 9 time pizza champion, Tony Gemignani, and is also certified in Classic Italian Pizza, Pizza in Pala, and Pizza in Taglia from the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli in Carole, Italy. Gemigiani tagged Leo to be a part of the World Pizza Champions team after many conversations about Chicago style pizza and tasting the stuffed pizza. Chicago style pizza wasn't recognized in any of the World Championship competitions, but Gemigiani wanted to change that. When the Italians refused to acknowledge the stuffed pizza the USA threatened to boycott the games. After much controversy, Chicago style pizza was added. Now the pizza is the biggest story at the games.
The World Pizza Championships are held each year in Salsomaggiore, Italy, which is about an hour south of Milan. Approximately 4,000 pizza makers converge on one city to compete for the coveted title. The competition has five different categories, Pizza Acrobatics, Fastest Pizza, Fastest Pizza Box Folder, World's Best Pizza, and Largest Dough Stretch. Leo competes in the "World's Best Pizza" category. The USA has the most medals of any other country in the world. The team has been featured guests on many national TV shows including the Today show and Oprah.
Leo is the only team member from Illinois. He is a first generation Italian-American that has a passion for making pizza. Being General Manager at the Giordano's flagship store on Rush Street, in the heart of the Gold Coast, means that he feeds thousands of hungry guests a week. It's not uncommon for Leo to make a stuffed pizza for celebrities that stop in when visiting Chicago. I recently had my first Giordano's stuffed pizza and concur that it is one of the best pizza's in town. Makes sense being that the pizza is made by one of the best pizza guys in the world.
To check out Leo and the World Pizza Champions Team visit www.leopizza.com.Labels: chicago dining, chicago restaurants, chicago style deep dish, dc crenshaw, fete select tv, giordano's, leo spizzirri, pizza, world pizza championships
Thanks for the research!!!!
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