In July, we hosted the first ever “UK’s Best Amateur Pizzaiolo” competition, and what a weekend it was! We had talented finalists, celebrity judges and of course, we enjoyed some truly incredible pizza.
In our first year we received almost 200 entries to find the UK’s best home pizza chef and a whopping 3,600 votes to help us whittle down fifteen pizzas to five, the creators of which would progress to the live final.
After a month of online voting and some very tight results, we had our five finalists with a diverse range of backgrounds and pizza-making experience.
On Saturday 2nd July our finalists arrived at Love Logs HQ, and the dough making began. From the most methodical and detail-oriented to the (almost too!) relaxed, it was amazing to see the different styles and approaches, but all arrived at one common point – they all found the coolest spot in the building for their overnight prove!
Then it was on to relax outside with a BBQ and a few drinks with our group of fire cooking enthusiasts. You know it’s been a good night when you call and delay the taxis- the only negative being the slightly sore heads when our first contestants arrived to ball up their dough at 7am the next morning!
So on to the all-important live final.
We were so excited to welcome our judges, fire cooking master, Adam Purnell, AKA Shropshire Lad and the one and only Giuseppe Dell'Anno, winner of the Great British Bake Off 2021.
After a sunny start to the day, right on cue the heavens opened and we were huddled under a gazebo when Giuseppe and Adam arrived.
We braved the rain to light the ovens, and the first contestants started the final prep on their toppings. Then, as if by magic, 15 minutes before the first bake the rain blew over and the sun came out. Game on!
And so, the pizzas came thick and fast, each competitor baking a Neapolitan margherita followed by their own speciality pizza, or “Doughstopper” as they were quickly coined.
Martin Bennet served us steak & blue cheese in pizza format; Alex the “Cornish Squealer”; Pete a pizza bianchi with sausage and caramelised onion, David a dessert pizza with limoncello cream & raspberries, and last but not least, Martin Sviba handed us ‘nduja with burrata and hot honey. What can we say, apart from – WOW!
The quality was even better than we’d hoped – all ten pizzas were restaurant quality but several really stood out in terms of quality, creativity or both.
After eating more pizza than we thought humanly possible, It was time for the judges to discuss our scores and crown a winner. It was tight, with only 5 points between first and last place. The Love Logs team and Adam had the same tied 1st and 2nd place finish, so it was down to Giuseppe’s scores to decide it.
And the winner is...
The winner of the weekend, and our first ever UK's Best Amateur Pizzaiolo was the brilliantly consistent Pete Bath, whose pizzas looked exactly like the photos he entered. His Margarita was perfectly cooked, and his bianchi was just the right amount of quirky!
David Griffiths, our runner up, and most relaxed pizzaiolo, definitely won the creativity points with his limoncello and raspberry dessert pizza which included homemade shortbread. Incredible!
All five of the guys absolutely smashed it and more importantly, we had an amazing weekend with five passionate home pizza cooks who embody everything positive about the thriving pizza scene to be found on social media.
If you want some pizza inspiration, click on their names below to check any of our finalists out on Instagram
Pete Bath David Griffiths Martin Sviba Martin Bennett Alex Berry
One thing’s for sure… we can’t wait for next year!
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