Local Pittsburgh Pizza Maker Wins Best Pan Pizza at International Pizza Expo

Pittsburgh pizza stature continues to rise, like a ball of dough that's bulk fermenting. During the 2016 International Pizza Expo, of which my dad is covering, one of Caliente's chefs, Eric Von Hansen, won the title for World's Best Pan Pizza.

If I gave out awards, Caliente Pizza & Draft House would receive the "Best Unassuming Pizza Parlor" award. If "pizza" wasn't in the name you'd figure their menu would be bursting with tacos. It's what's inside that matters, and in this instance Caliente now boasts a world class award winning pan pizza.

Here's Eric posing with his award winning pan pizza.

The pizza itself is a gourmet duck pizza called "The Quack Attack" (or "Duck Duck Pan"). The pizza is made up of:

Pan dough is infused with a Yards IPA.
Roasted garlic butter and fresh chives
Pan seared duck breast
Wild mushroom ragu
Roasted shallots
Baby arugula
Fontinella cheese
Organic tear drop tomatoes
Truffle oil and roasted garlic oil fused together

After listing these ingredients a judge responded, "Please cut this up immediately,"

Caliente plans to add this pizza to their menu when they return from the Pizza Expo.

You can watch a video of Eric preparing his world class pizza on Caliente's Facebook page.

Caliente is located in the heart of Bloomfield, on Liberty Ave. They fit the landscape perfectly; Caliente boasts a superb and extensive rotating list of beers and pizza that's both affordable and delicious. Definitely worth visiting.

What do you do when you're crowned the world's best pan pizza? Do you celebrate by having a large pizza party? I'll get to the bottom of this.