Pizza Challenge 2021 Winners

The Vancouver Foodster 7th Pizza Challenge was a great success featuring unique creations at restaurants around Metro Vancouver including Squamish.  Each restaurant featured their creation on their menu from April 1-25, 2021. and their customers voted for their favourites daily throughout the challenge for their People’s Choice favourites.

Our media judging panel determined the ultimate winners of the challenge, and this was quite the task as each judge who tasted each creation with a rigorous process based on taste, originality/uniqueness and presentation/appearance.

Each media judge scored each creation with a maximum of 40 points as follows: Overall Taste 20 points, Originality and Uniqueness 10 points, Presentation and Appearance 10 points. The highest number of points a challenge creation could have been awarded is 120 points.

Our Media judges for this challenge were: David Grange, Maggi Mei and David Peng.

The Winners are:

1st Place (tie):

{101 points}

Backcountry Brewing

Curried Cauliflower Pizza

Price: $18

Created by: Chef Artie McGee

Description:  Red curry cauliflower pizza with roasted curry cauliflower, roasted peppers and mozzarella. Garnished with cilantro chutney, mango creme, toasted coconut and house made paneer.

Ingredients: Red coconut curry base, curried cauliflower, red peppers, chickpeas. cilantro chutney, mango crema, toasted coconut, and paneer.

Takeout/Pickup: Monday & Tuesday 12pm – 8pm; Wednesday -Sunday 4pm-8pm for Dine-in or Takeout.

Delivery: not available.

Backcountry Brewing

405-1201 Commercial Way, Squamish

Web: https://www.backcountrybrewing.com/

Tel:(604) 567-2739

Twitter @Backcountry604

Instagram @backcountrybrewing

1st Place (tie):

{101 points}

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

La Ligure Nera – (Black Ligure)

Price: full $38 (designed for 2 people) or by slice at the store ($33/kg )

Created by: Filippo Musso

Description: This creation is our Chef Filippo’s tribute to his homeland Liguria as Ligure means person from Liguria, Italian region well known for the stunning Cinque Terre Nation Park. He combined traditional ingredients such as pesto, roasted potatoes, green beans and added a twist in the base that looks like it’s burnt but isn’t not, do not worry!

It’s just made with activated charcoal very good for the body. 

Ingredients: Activated Charcoal pizza base, creamy pesto sauce, Shredded mozzarella cheese, roasted potatoes, green beans garnish with pesto and fresh basil.

Offered: Pender: From 11am to closing Mon-Friday

Offered: Yaletown: From 11am to closing every day

Available: Takeout/Pickup: as per stores hours; delivery available by Doordash

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

800 West Pender Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 602-7263

Web: https://www.sciue.ca/

Instagram @sciuevancouver

and

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

126 Davie Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 689-7263

Web: https://www.sciue.ca/

Instagram @sciuevancouver

2nd Place:

{97 points}

Little Devils Wood Fire Food Truck

Vancouver Special

Price: $15

Created by: the Little Devils Wood Fire Pizza Team

Description: We start with Chiliwack’s Anita’s Organic ’00’ pizza flour, fresh yeast, sea salt, and water for our dough. We do a double ferment – about 12 hours bulk and another 36 hours as hand-rolled dough balls.

Our sauce is San Marzano tomatoes that have been crushed by hand with a pinch of salt added. We paper-thinly slice fresh pineapples and house-preserve. We take Italian prosciutto, portion and slowly sear, cool, and crumble. We use generous slabs of Fior di Latte – young, creamy, mozzarella. We top with minced garlic, grated Grana Padano, and house-infused chili oil.

The pizza is then cooked at about 850° in the wood fire oven, giving the pizza an iota more crispness than a traditional Neapolitan. We use year-dried BC Alder, or Birch wood.

The pizza cooks for about two minutes, coming out with a puffy, ‘leoparded’ crust and slightly roasted garlic, melted fior, spicy chili oil, sweet pineapple, salty prosciutto, bright tomato, on an airy, luscious, but very slightly crisp base. We finish with grated Grana Padano and Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Enjoy hot!

Ingredients: Hand-crushed San Marzano Tomato Sauce, Seared and Crumbled Prosciutto, Fior di Latte, Preserved Pineapple, Garlic, Chili Oil, Parmesan

Offered: Available for pickup anywhere the truck is (check the website). Delivery available through Uber Eats, Doordash and Fantuan when we are in the River District!

Little Devils Wood Fire Food Truck

(rotates locations)

Instagram @littledevilspizza

3rd Place:

{93 points}

Wildeye Brewing Bistro

Drunken Onion Prosciutto Pizza

Price: $15

Created by: Erica Pandin

Description: Mornay based pizza with crispy prosciutto garlic confit, roasted white mushrooms, white onions caramelized with Wildeye Czech Dark Lager, topped with smoked caciocavallo cheese. Finished with sliced pepperoncini peppers and fresh basil.

Ingredients: prosciutto, garlic, mushrooms, onions, beer, smoked caciocavallo cheese, pepperoncini peppers and fresh basil.

Offered:Dine-in and Takeout (call for pickup)

Wildeye Brewing Bistro

1385 Main Street, North Vancouver

Tel: (604) 988-1900

Web: https://www.wildeyebrewing.ca/bistro

Instagram @wildeyebrewing

In the People’s Choice Awards category, the public who tried the Pizza Creations were the ones who had the opportunity to cast their vote throughout the challenge.

The Winners are:

1st Place People’s Choice:

Wildeye Brewing Bistro

Drunken Onion Prosciutto Pizza

Price: $15

Created by: Erica Pandin

Description: Mornay based pizza with crispy prosciutto garlic confit, roasted white mushrooms, white onions caramelized with Wildeye Czech Dark Lager, topped with smoked caciocavallo cheese. Finished with sliced pepperoncini peppers and fresh basil.

Ingredients: prosciutto, garlic, mushrooms, onions, beer, smoked caciocavallo cheese, pepperoncini peppers and fresh basil.

Offered:Dine-in and Takeout (call for pickup)

Wildeye Brewing Bistro

1385 Main Street, North Vancouver

Tel: (604) 988-1900

Web: https://www.wildeyebrewing.ca/bistro

Instagram @wildeyebrewing

2nd Place People’s Choice:

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

La Ligure Nera – (Black Ligure)

Price: full $38 (designed for 2 people) or by slice at the store ($33/kg )

Created by: Filippo Musso

Description: This creation is our Chef Filippo’s tribute to his homeland Liguria as Ligure means person from Liguria, Italian region well known for the stunning Cinque Terre Nation Park. He combined traditional ingredients such as pesto, roasted potatoes, green beans and added a twist in the base that looks like it’s burnt but isn’t not, do not worry!

It’s just made with activated charcoal very good for the body. 

Ingredients: Activated Charcoal pizza base, creamy pesto sauce, Shredded mozzarella cheese, roasted potatoes, green beans garnish with pesto and fresh basil.

Offered: Pender: From 11am to closing Mon-Friday

Offered: Yaletown: From 11am to closing every day

Available: Takeout/Pickup: as per stores hours; delivery available by Doordash

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

800 West Pender Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 602-7263

Web: https://www.sciue.ca/

Instagram @sciuevancouver

and

Sciue Italian Bakery Caffe

126 Davie Street, Vancouver

Tel: (604) 689-7263

Web: https://www.sciue.ca/

Instagram @sciuevancouver

3rd Place People’s Choice:

Backcountry Brewing

Curried Cauliflower Pizza

Price: $18

Created by: Chef Artie McGee

Description:  Red curry cauliflower pizza with roasted curry cauliflower, roasted peppers and mozzarella. Garnished with cilantro chutney, mango creme, toasted coconut and house made paneer.

Ingredients: Red coconut curry base, curried cauliflower, red peppers, chickpeas. cilantro chutney, mango crema, toasted coconut, and paneer.

Takeout/Pickup: Monday & Tuesday 12pm – 8pm; Wednesday -Sunday 4pm-8pm for Dine-in or Takeout.

Delivery: not available.

Backcountry Brewing

405-1201 Commercial Way, Squamish

Web: https://www.backcountrybrewing.com/

Tel:(604) 567-2739

Twitter @Backcountry604

Instagram @backcountrybrewing

Thank you to all the chefs and restaurants that accepted my invitation and featured the Pizza Challenge creations on the menu for the past few weeks during this challenge.

I encourage you to visit the winning restaurants to try their Pizza creations! See all the Pizza Challenge Entries Here.

By: Richard Wolak

Leave a Reply