Let us now celebrate a beloved food. In its most basic form, it consists of dough, sauce, cheese and spices.<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u2019s pizza we\u2019re celebrating. And soon, you\u2019ll be able to do the same at a Broward County bash.<\/p>\n
Things are heating up for \u201cPizza Fest at the Park\u201d.<\/p>\n
Larry Mele: \u201cPizza Fest is the first pizza festival in Fort Lauderdale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pizza pros from all over will be pulling pies out of their ovens.<\/p>\n
Larry Mele: \u201cPizza Fest is bringing together 16 of the best pizza places in South Florida going from Naples, Florida all the way down to Homestead.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two-day family-friendly event goes down in Esplanade Park on Feb. 7 and 8.<\/p>\n
Larry Mele: \u201cWe have eight pizzerias on Saturday and eight pizzerias on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each day, the eight pizza makers will compete against one another.<\/p>\n
Larry Mele: \u201cSo the winner of each day will do a final competition Sunday afternoon right before the Super Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s one crucial difference between the big game and this competition. At Pizza Fest, you decide who wins.<\/p>\n
Larry Mele: \u201cThe guests that are coming to the Pizza Fest they\u2019ll have a coin, so they can drop it to their favorite slice, so it\u2019s the public that\u2019s gonna decide the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
One potential champ is Plantation\u2019s \u201cFrank Pepe Pizzeria\u201d. They turn out their product New Haven style.<\/p>\n
Ryan Marrero: \u201cIt\u2019s a thin, crispy, chewy, char.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cchar\u201d shows up on the crust of the pie.<\/p>\n
Ryan Marrero: \u201cIt\u2019ll be nice and dark but you\u2019ll get a really nice flavor from the char and it\u2019ll be well done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well done, indeed. The process starts with the foundation of any pie.<\/p>\n
Ryan Marrero: \u201cIt\u2019s a bread-style dough so that\u2019s how you get that rise, you get that chewiness and that\u2019s another thing that defines us, right? You see that rise in the pockets of the dough, and you\u2019ll have a nice little airy chewiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The peeps at Frank Pepe hope the Fest will turn people on to what they do best.<\/p>\n
Ryan Marrero: \u201cFlorida\u2019s not known for pizza, but you know we are known for pizza, so for us to be in there, and grow that, and to grow the pizza scene in Florida and then grow the business of Frank Pepe\u2019s as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miami and Italy will be well-represented by \u2018O Munaciello Pizzeria.<\/p>\n
Niccolo Chiaroni: \u201cWe brought like a little Napoli, real Italy, a real taste of Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n
This really is old-style zah from the old country.<\/p>\n
Niccolo Chiaroni: \u201cAll our products to make the pizza to make the dough is from Italy come from Italy, and we make the same way we does in Italy that make our pizza really original.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018O Munaciello wants to make sure everyone\u2019s happy at \u201cPizza Fest in the Park\u201d.<\/p>\n
Niccolo Chiaroni: \u201cIt is for us an opportunity to, I mean, meet new family, pizza is for family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Niccolo Chiaroni: \u201cFor us it\u2019s a celebration. A celebration of what we do, what we like, what we love.\u201d<\/p>\n