NEWEST U.S. PIZZA TEAM MEMBERS

Fresh flavors, faces and ideas led the pack at the 30th annual World Pizza Championship.

The U.S. Pizza Team (USPT) traveled to the World Pizza Championship (WPC) in Parma, Italy, in search of pizza glory, and they were not disappointed. With a competing team of 12 members from across the USA, the USPT entered the Fieri di Parma in April with hopes of reaching the awards stage for their culinary innovations. This hope was fulfilled by two of its newest members, casting a winning light on the future of the team.

Team Captain Michael LaMarca, owner of Master Pizza in Cleveland, received the first award of the evening: the Premio Fair Play Award. A prestigious recognition from the entire pizza industry, both international and domestic, this accolade honored and thanked LaMarca for all his work on the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas and Atlantic City—and in the industry as a whole. Prior to that, the USPT was presented with a similar informal award from the competitive team for Tavatru Gran Canaria, a pizzeria in the Canary Islands and a previous Vegas champion. This honor can also be largely attributed to LaMarca’s congeniality and personality.

Taking top honors for the USPT was newest member Vitangelo Recchia of Bella Napoli Pizzeria & Restaurant in Port Charlotte, Florida. Recchia took 2nd place in the world for Pizza in Teglia. He also earned the highest score in the entire competition for the USA, wowing the judges with his Heart of Parma pizza featuring hand-grated porcini dust, Lardo di Colonnata, trumpet, oyster and pioppini mushrooms, mozzarella, sausage, stracchino, arugula, and a Parmigiano-Reggiano aged 30 months.

It was only Recchia’s second competition. “Being a part of a world competition on such a grand stage was always a dream,” he said. “Seeing all the competition areas, the ovens, the sponsors, all the competitors—it was incredible. I was told to just have fun and do your best. Being in Italy at the competition, I had already won.

“I didn’t hear my name [when it was called], but my teammates at the tables went absolutely crazy,” Recchia continued. “Then it all hit me. It was incredible. To stand on the podium, second place in the world in Teglia, was an incredible honor. I met some incredible pizzaiolos, and it’s an honor to be a member of the U.S. Pizza Team competing with them.”