Owner-operator of Columbus, Georgia-based Cerrone’s Brick Oven Pizzeria debuts New York-Neapolitan hybrid pizza at Pizza Expo 2025

A lot of elements had to go just right for Leo Dicesaris to take first place in the Non-Traditional Division at the International Pizza Challenge (IPC) last week. For example, the owner-operator of Cerrone’s Brick Oven Pizzeria spent a week harvesting yeast from apples, grapes and pears to create his cold-fermented pizza dough.

“The biggest challenge was making the naturally leavened poolish and dough. It was a week-long process harvesting the yeast from the fruit to begin the poolish, so timing and temperature had to be perfect leading up to making the dough and transporting it to the competition,” Dicesaris tells Pizza Today of his preparations ahead of the IPC held during Pizza Expo 2025 in Las Vegas.

The crust for his winning pie is a hybrid of Neapolitan and New York styles made with high-protein zero-zero flour using protocols from the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana. Dicesaris says the dough is made with 20% poolish created from the fruit-based yeast, followed by a five-day cold ferment before balling the pizza dough.

If that sounds like a lot of work, Dicesaris says it’s because he thinks so highly of everyone competing at the IPC. “The competition was phenomenal this year and the biggest it’s been to date, boasting 110 competitors in my division alone. You can always expect elaborate creations in the Non-Traditional Division,” he says.

The Ibérico, a pig originating from Spain, is the inspiration for Dicesaris’ winning pizza, topped with hickory- and cherry-smoked mozzarella as well as Ibérico chorizo. Dicesaris baked the pie in an electric deck oven and garnished it with sliced Anjou pears, arugula, toasted pistachios, shaved two-year-aged DOP Manchego cheese, jamón Ibérico, blueberry preserves and a drizzle of roscato wine reduction.

Sound good? The judges certainly thought so. “My experience with having my pizza judged is always something I look forward to. My favorite thing seeing how people grade the wonderful creations you think up – it keeps us humble and constantly striving for perfection,” Dicesaris says, adding, “I really enjoyed the focus on judging this year as well. They did a great job certifying and educating judges on so many elements this year, and I think it really showed well in the scoring.”

Jeremy Viale of Casa Viale in Meximieux, France, took second place in the Non-Traditional Division. Benjamin Tobin of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania-based Mezzaluna Wood Fired Pizza won third place.

Dicesaris says his team at Cerrone’s Brick Oven Pizzeria is “overjoyed” about his first-place win. “They’ve seen me compete for years, placing well but never quite getting the finish we were after,” he says. “What people don’t see … is the journey of how they got there. Thats something my team back home gets to see day in and day out, and it’s incredible being able to share in this victory together.”