Elkhart teen takes international pizza title
Apr. 7—ELKHART — Antonio's Italian Ristorante pizzaiole Gemma Cataldo is now the youngest winner of the International Pizza Expo.
Taking place in Las Vegas, the competition was a first for Caltaldo, who comes from a family of pizza-making champions.
"It was overwhelming, in a good sort of way," said Cataldo, 18, 2023 Winner Best Traditional Pizza Mid-America Region. "I felt like a learned a lot...everybody's got their dough recipe, everybody's got their pizza that they make but there's little tweaks like letting it sit before you cut it so it can harden up, or maybe skinning it to dehydrate it first, different little tricks to just improve the recipe already there. It's really cool."
In the Las Vegas-based competition, competitors were permitted to choose up to two of seven ingredients for a red sauce, 14-inch pizza, and nothing other than cutting after the pizza leaves the oven. Cataldo chose a spicy red sauce with Calabrian Chili Pepper Infused Oil and paired the spicy with the sweetness of caramelized onions, and two types of sausage — link sausage, and house sausage (as permitted by the rules). She and her sister spent hours tweaking the recipe before she brought it to the competition.
"It was tough because I wanted them (the onions) to be almost candied," she said. "Sometimes caramelized ones are very soft; I wanted them to be a little crunchy. It was trial and error with these onions, man."
Cataldo beat out 92 people for her division title, a record attendance. For the title of Pizza Maker of the Year, the winners of each category: traditional, nontraditional, pan, and Neapolitan go head-to-head with a secret ingredient. She placed second for Pizza of the Year.
"If you win that you can never compete again," Cataldo explained. "Now I can go back!"
Antonio's Italian Ristorante began as Bruno's Pizza in 1979, with Cataldo's grandfather and his sons, Paul and Bruno. Eventually, Paul became the sole owner of the business in 1995. Later on, his brother also opened a pizzeria, reestablishing the name of Bruno's Pizza in Elkhart, and also Per Baccos.
Cataldo has been working at the pizzeria since she was 10 years old. She started with salads, and worked on the pasta line, and began making pizzas two years ago.
"She may have only been making pizzas for two years but she's been around this for eight years and watching me compete for eight years," Paul said.
It's a family business. Paul's five daughters and one son have all worked in the restaurant. When her older sister Carmela went to college, Cataldo took over management of the pizza line and when she leaves for college in August, the next one, Gia will step up into the management position.
"I don't remember learning how to make a pizza," Gemma said. "I always just knew, so the training process was pretty easy for me up here."
Instead, she learned time management, customer service, the baking process, etc. In the competition setting, though, the rules change, and even a young competitor has to adapt to the intricacies that can impact their final product.
"It's always going to be different and you're probably going to have to adapt in any oven that you go into," she said.
It's not Cataldo's first competition, though. In Atlantic City, N.J., she participated in a youth tournament at 17.
In 2019, Paul also won the traditional pizza competition. They've won Best Pizza in the Midwest region for several years running. In 2020, sister Carmela took the Mid-America Expo, also as "It's not just 'making pizzas,'" Paul said. "It's not just pepperoni and cheese pizzas anymore.... Being exposed to different styles, different sauces, different techniques, and being able to work that all together makes you a better pizza maker."
Gemma's pizza is so unique Paul will be competing with it in Parma, Italy, later this month.
The pizza, named "The Gem," has been added to the menu for dine-in only at Antonio's Italian Ristorante, which is open 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, at 1105 Goshen Ave.
Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.