The owner of a local Northeastern Pennsylvania pizzeria has brought home one of the most prestigious awards in the pizza industry. Tony Cerimele of Nesquehoning/Pittston is a World Pizza Champion! Tony is the owner of New Columbus Pizza Co in Nequehoning. The local pizzaiolo has been named the 2024 Pizza Maker of the Year. Cerimele competed against 50 other top competitors in the pan pizza division, and hundreds more from other divisions. The talented pizzaioli came from around the world to compete in 3 grueling rounds at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

Pizza Expo is in its 40th year of operation and is heralded as the pizza industry’s largest pizza event. The event is operated by Pizza Today and attracts thousands of pizza fanatics from around the globe. It’s truly an international event that brings in the industry’s best and brightest pizza people and finest products and services. If you’re looking for a who’s who of the pizza industry, this is the event to attend.

The competition is difficult, but it becomes even more challenging considering contestants must travel with their tools and ingredients. En route to being a World Pizza Champion, people like Tony Cerimele must overcome many obstacles.

Tony Cerimele’s Pizza Making Journey

Cerimele, who also owns local mobile wood-fired pizza catering business New Columbus Pizza Co. He has been making pizza for 22 years. He started making pizza in 2002 when he met his wife, Marianne, who hails from Old Forge, PA “the pizza capital of the world” and knows a thing or two about great pizza. Tony always enjoyed Old Forge pizza and wanted to learn to make it.

He attended master pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani’s International School of Pizza to learn more about the craft. But the learning didn’t stop there. He constantly put in the work – experimenting with different recipes, ingredients, tools, and techniques.

Cerimele’s World Pizza Champion Bio:

The Cerimele family’s start in the food business goes back to the 1950’s in the New Columbus section of Nesquehoning, PA. Currently owned & operated by Tony Cerimele & his family, it was originally started by his grandparents Michael and Mayme… later to be followed by his Uncle Michael (Schmick), with enormous help from his parents Fred and Marquerite. Although catering flourished and was originally their main business, pizza surprisingly became what the Cerimele family would be known for. Tony’s grandmother Mayme began making pizza for his uncles, and instead of eating it, they would take it and sell it at local fire halls and clubs. And so, it began… Pizza would then be sold every Friday and special occasion for the next 60 years to the present day.

Today, the family’s recipes live on through Tony. He offers specialty pizza, signature family favorites, and an expanded mobile wood fired pizza catering option. There is no mistaking his light as air crust, secret cheese blend, and 60-year-old sauce recipe. But Tony didn’t stop there. His quest for making the best pizza he can led him to becoming a certified Pizzaiolo from The International School of Pizza in San Francisco by friend and mentor Tony Gemignani. The culmination of his hard work and dedication to the craft garnered him a spot on The World Pizza Champions, a true highlight of his professional career. The WPC team travels the world competing in competitions, advancing the profession to new heights, and focuses on giving back to the communities in which they serve. (Source: World Pizza Champions)

Learn more about Cerimele’s Pizza and Tony’s family story in this pizza documentary episode.

A Special Sicilian Pizza

The pizza he created in the first and second rounds of competition was a upside-down Sicilian style pie. “Upside- down” refers to the sauce being on top of the cheese. His strategy was to keep the pizza relatively simple and use quality ingredients that he was familiar and comfortable with. Tony made his dough at home in Pittston on Monday. Then came the challenge of carrying it with him on an airplane flight across the country. He had to bring all of his tools and ingredients along as well.

Cerimele constructed the pizza with his signature dough. He added sauce made from high quality tomatoes and some mozzarella cheese that he could rely on. To chef it up a bit, he added pepperoni jam made by Lee Hunzinger. Then he added honey whipped ricotta that he’s also known for. The idea was to create a super light and crispy crust with classic sauce and cheese flavors. Then he added some contrasting notes and textures with the jam and ricotta.

I spoke to Cosmo Salerno, owner of Cosmo’s Cheesesteaks in Scranton, who had the chance to try one of Tony’s top secret test pizzas. Cosmo, who is a talented pizziolo himself, said of Tony’s test pizza he tasted: “I couldn’t stop eating it. I knew when I ate it that he would be in the running. The dough was the fluffiest and crispiest I’ve ever eaten. I fell in love with it immediately!” He went on to say that “every component was well thought out and there wasn’t any ingredient that overpowered the other. It was perfectly balanced.”

Judging at Pizza Expo is No Easy Task

Gregorio Fierro, who is a Chef, Restaurant and Pizza Consultant, and Certified Master Pizza Instructor served as a judge at Pizza Expo this year and in years past. He takes the role very seriously and took the time to explain just how thorough and rigorous the judging process is. He said, “These pizzaioli put their hearts and souls into preparing these pizzas. We owe them a professional and honest assessment.”

Many people don’t recognize everything that goes into judging a pizza. “Before the judging process began, Pizza Today developed a code of conduct and ethics for judges and we met to discuss those standards and were required to sign and agree to them. Some of it is common sense, but some things like avoiding making facial expressions or discussing a pizza because those things can influence another judge’s opinion. We work hard to minimize those potential conflicts.”

Scores range from 0 to 10 and are scored in hundredths of a point increments. They also do blind judging in the first rounds so that judges have no idea who made each pizza. Fierro added, “The organization really worked hard to make it as fair and ethical of a competition as possible. I give Bill Oakley and his team at Pizza Today as well as the International Pizza Challenge a lot of credit.”

Advancing to the Next Round

In the first round of judging, Tony placed in 3rd. Since judging can be subjective, the process is to take the top 5 scoring pizzas and have the pizziaoli make them again to compete against each other. The assignment is the make the very same pizza that was made in the first round again.

Tony executed his plan to perfection, with a little help from above and the Polin oven that he credits with doing a fantastic job baking the pizza. Jim Henry, owner of Jimmyhank Pizza, also successfully competed at Pizza Expo and was in attendance to watch Cerimele make his award winning pizzas. “As soon as I saw Tony’s parbakes during the preliminary rounds, I could tell it was going to be something special. Light and fluffy clouds of dough, with a firm structure, the perfect vessel for his amazing pepperoni marmalade that was about to grace it. I’m so happy for Tony, he’s one of the hardest working pizzailos I know. Very cool to see him bring home the hardware to Pennsylvania.”

Jim Henry and Tony Cerimele

On to the Finals

The winner of traditional, non-traditional, pan, neapolitan, and best cheese slice all compete for pizza maker of the year in the final round. Contestants are allowed to use their own dough, but have to use the ingredients in the venue’s pantry. The concept is a lot like the show “Chopped” on the Food Network. In the pantry Tony reached for sausage and peppers as they were toppings he was familiar with.

Again, he used his dough to make a light and airy Sicilian crust as he did in the first 2 rounds. Tony pinched off some loose Italian sausage, placed it into a pan and baked it into the Polin pizza oven to get some char. After the sausage was finished baking, he applied it along with the sauce and cheese atop the pizza and continued baking. When the pizza was finished baking, he added a crumble of the secret ingredient – thinly sliced fresh mozzarella. He also drizzled honey for sweetness and brushed some of it on the crust. I asked Tony why he brushed honey on the crust. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he just felt like it was the thing to do in that moment!

The Sicilian pizza was dressed beautifully and Cerimele walked it over to the panel of 5 judges to present and describe his pizza. While the judges examined the pizza closely a hush fell over the crowded convention center. Watching the livestream online, the announcer John Gutenkanst could be heard commenting on how crunchy the crust was as he overhead a judge biting into it!

Tony Cerimele World Pizza Champion!

A hush came over the crowd and there was a palpable tension hovering over the conference as the judges rated each pizza and handed in their scoring sheets. Even though it wasn’t long before the winner was announced it seemed like an eternity. Finally the the announcement was made. Tony Cerimele was crowned a World Pizza Champion and was named the Pizza Maker of the Year 2024!

Determination to Bounce Back From Last to First

I spoke with Tony Gemignani, 13-time World Pizza Champion, and author of The Pizza Bible. Referred to by many in the industry as “The Pizza GOAT,” Tony G. has not only mentored Tony C., but he knows first hand the highs and lows of pizza competitions.

The first time Gemignani competed in Naples at the World Pizza Cup, he won it back in 2007. However, in the Northern Italy division of the World Pizza Championships, it took him 17 years of losing to finally win in the Roman style pizza division. Gemignani continued, “I could not win in the North and that’s the biggest competition there is. I never gave up very much like Tony Cerimele did when he was competing. He didn’t give up either. Tony is an inspiration to many pizza competitors that haven’t won yet.”

After last year’s Pizza Expo 2023 when Cerimele finished nearly dead last in his division, he was obviously disappointed. Gemignani was there for support. When asked about the guidance he provides teammates, Tony said, “I’m like a dad out there, I love to see these guys do well and they have had a lot of lows. I’m there to console them and keep them on track. You only get one shot, there’s a lot going against you in this. For you to step up to the plate and hit a homerun then hit a grand slam, it’s really hard! Don’t be a quitter. Practice, I know you’ll get there.”

Tony Gemignani with Tony Cerimele World Pizza Champion
Tony Gemignani takes a photo with Tony Cerimele World Pizza Champion and Pizza Maker of the Year 2024.

Gemignani Saw Something Different in Cerimele

“When you don’t win for a few years and you take the trip to Italy or Vegas to compete and fail, you kind of want to throw in the towel. Guys like tony many times end up quitting. Tony C stuck with it, he kept going.” The two talked throughout the year after the failed run at the championship in 2023. They discussed what style of pizza Tony C. would compete with in 2024 and some strategies he might deploy. Cerimele also consulted with other trusted pizzaioli Anthony Berghela, Derek Sanches, Lee Hunzinger, Cosmo Salerno, John Tabone, Carmine Testa, Tony Troiano, John Gristina, and Jason Valenti for advice. He kept working, experimenting, testing, practicing, and perfecting his pizza.

During this year’s competition, Gemignani watched Cerimele and noticed something different. “He was in a pretty good zone. I noticed that Tony was really dialed in and thought that there had to be a little angel over his shoulder. I told him that I thought it was his dad, and he winked back at me as he was making his pizza. He appeared a lot more confident and relaxed than usual.”

Check out my review of New Columbus Pizza Co!

A Victory With Special Meaning

Just a few hours after his victory, I asked Tony how it felt. “It feels pretty good. It’s something I set out to do and I did it.” It’s a bit of a story of a redemption and perseverance as Tony recalled his experience from the prior year’s Pizza Expo competition. “Last year, I placed 45th out of 48 competitors. It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. I made an Old Forge double crust pizza that didn’t go over well with the judges. Now this year I’m back with a different pizza. I’ll call it the rise of the Sicilian.”

I asked Tony about what reaching the pinnacle of a pizza maker’s career and realizing a dream means to him. His voice immediately softened, but was instantly able to put this all into a meaningful context. Tony’s dedicated the victory to his father, Zeppy, who passed a couple of years ago, and his family who means so much to him. “I felt like Zeppy was an angel on my shoulder the the entire time I was here. There were too many coincidental things that happened for him not to be there pulling strings and helping things fall into place. I’m proud to have my daughters see how hard I worked practicing and training for this moment. They can see when you put in the work and persevere, it pays off.”

A World Pizza Champion We Can Celebrate

Hard work, passion for pizza, respect for the craft, dedication to improving, and striving to achieve goals are all things that lead Tony to this lifetime achievement. He’s represented his family, his hometown of Pittston, the region of NEPA, and the state of Pennsylvania well. We’re really lucky to have such a talented pizzaiolo raising the bar in the pizza industry locally and on a national level. Tony Cerimele World Pizza Champion has a pretty nice ring to it!

You can find Tony’s Old Forge double crust white pizza in The Pursuit of Pizza recipe book created by he and his fellow World Pizza Champions teammates. WPC is a non-profit foundation, and all the proceeds go to make a wish foundation.

Additional News Coverage of Tony Cerimele’s Pizza Championship

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