{"id":8298,"date":"2025-06-24T07:52:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T14:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/?p=8298"},"modified":"2025-06-24T07:52:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T14:52:11","slug":"twelve-professional-chefs-named-finalists-in-national-pizza-competition-featuring-real-california-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/twelve-professional-chefs-named-finalists-in-national-pizza-competition-featuring-real-california-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"TWELVE PROFESSIONAL CHEFS NAMED FINALISTS IN NATIONAL PIZZA COMPETITION FEATURING REAL CALIFORNIA CHEESE"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Live bake-off event in Napa to award $30,000 in prizes and showcase innovative foodservice pizza recipes across three new categories<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Tracy, Calif. \u2013 June 24, 2025 \u2013 The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) today announced the 12 professional chef finalists for the 2025 Real California Pizza Contest, a nationwide competition to find the most innovative foodservice pizza recipes featuring Real California dairy products.<\/p>\n<p>In its seventh year, the contest attracted more than 200 entries from chefs across the U.S., each vying for a share of $30,000 in prize money and recognition as the best of the best in pizza. Finalists will compete in a live bake-off July 29th at the Culinary Institute of America at Copia in Napa, Calif., showcasing their recipes across three new categories: On the Menu, The Big Cheese, and Innovative Wildcard.<\/p>\n<p>Each category winner will receive $5,000, with one selected as the Grand Prize Winner and awarded an additional $5,000. All other finalists will receive $1,000 each.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 contest categories and finalists are as follows:<\/p>\n<p>On the Menu: An innovative pizza recipe currently featured on the entrant\u2019s regular or seasonal menu, using two or more Real California cheeses or dairy products.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Edward Stalewski \u2013 Mercurio&#8217;s, Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/li>\n<li>David Goldy \u2013 Wild West Pizza, Lompoc, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Sean Dempsey \u2013 Dempsey&#8217;s Brewery Pub &amp; Restaurant, Watertown, S.D.<\/li>\n<li>Sergio Balderas \u2013 Truly Pizza, Dana Point, Calif.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Big Cheese: A creative take on America\u2019s favorite \u2013 the cheese pizza \u2013 featuring Real California Mozzarella and at least two additional Real California cheeses.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Salvatore Trupiano \u2013 Mangia e Bevi, Oceanside, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Kira Zabrowski \u2013 Much Ado About Pizza, Pleasanton, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Randy Lewis \u2013 Hearth Wood Fired Pizza &amp; Catering, San Leandro, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Charles Cullison \u2013 Charlie and the Pizza Factory, Kingman, Ariz.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Innovative Wildcard: A unique and original pizza recipe that showcases Real California Mozzarella and highlights the chef\u2019s creativity in a cheese-forward pizza.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Marcus Medina \u2013 Hella Pie Pizza, Tracy, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Vanessa Vinsick \u2013 Caliente Pizza &amp; Drafthouse, Pittsburgh, Pa.<\/li>\n<li>Adam Sachs \u2013 Toscano Brothers, San Francisco, Calif.<\/li>\n<li>Ryan Mondragon \u2013 Sanctuary Pizza, Modesto, Calif.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cThis year\u2019s Real California Pizza Contest drew a record number of chef entries, highlighting the incredible versatility and appeal of California-made cheeses and dairy products in the pizza category,\u201d said Mike Gallagher, Business and Market Development Consultant for the CMAB. \u201cChefs and pizzaioli nationwide continue to choose California dairy for its superior quality and consistency. As the country\u2019s leading producer of Mozzarella and the second largest cheese producer overall, California is at the forefront of innovation in foodservice. We\u2019re excited to see how this year\u2019s finalists bring that innovation to life across our new contest categories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the July 29 bake-off finals, chefs will prepare their pizzas onsite for blind judging by a panel of acclaimed pizza experts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tony Gemignani \u2013 Chef, restaurateur, international pizza authority, and President of the World Pizza Champions<\/li>\n<li>Glenn Cybulski \u2013 Certified pizzaiolo and award-winning executive chef<\/li>\n<li>Laura Meyer \u2013 International pizza champion, restaurant owner and co-founder of Fork to Future<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The judging panel selected the 12 finalists from over 200 blind-judged entries from across the United States. All finalist recipes incorporate cheeses made with sustainably sourced milk from California\u2019s more than 1,000 family dairy farms. Chefs selected from over 200 varieties and styles of Real California cheeses, each bearing the Real California Milk seal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Live bake-off event in Napa to award $30,000 in prizes and showcase innovative foodservice pizza recipes across three new categories Tracy, Calif. \u2013 June 24, 2025 \u2013 The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) today announced the 12 professional chef finalists for the 2025 Real California Pizza Contest, a nationwide competition to find the most innovative [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-26"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8299,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8298\/revisions\/8299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realcaliforniamilkfoodservice.com\/pizza-contest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}