Owner of Pennsylvania’s New Columbus Pizza Co. beats out fellow Pizza Maker of the Year honorees during International Pizza Challenge
On the heels of his victory as Pizza Maker of the Year at the 2024 International Pizza Challenge (IPC), Tony Cerimele has claimed the Best of the Best Award at Pizza Expo in Las Vegas. The Best of the Best category is open exclusively to past Pizza Maker of the Year honorees, meaning Cerimele won the very first time he was eligible to compete in the category. When he is not cleaning up at the IPC, Cerimele is the owner-operator of New Columbus Pizza Co. in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania, where he says employees are “super excited and proud” of the accomplishment.
Unlike many of the divisional challenges, the Best of the Best category is publicly judged. Additionally, competitors required to incorporate ingredients selected by judges in their pizza entry. This year, those ingredients were sausage, goat cheese and dragon fruit. While Cerimele admits he initially was uncertain about how to incorporate the dragon fruit, he created a dragon fruit jam that paired nicely with the sweet Peppadew peppers in his winning pie.
“I think what made my pizza stand out was the dough. I made a Sicilian pizza with a recipe that I have homed in over the last few years. So that, coupled with the dragon fruit jam that I finished the pizza with, really shined,” Cerimele tells Pizza Today. “I loved seeing the reactions on the judges faces and hearing the crust crunch when they took bites.”
Cerimele says he also appreciates having the opportunity to answer the judge’s questions. “It gives them a great perspective on how you came up with the pizza – especially with surprise ingredients,” he says. While the Best of the Best competition is held Thursday during Pizza Expo, Cerimele says he spends considerable time watching friends create IPC entries on the other days of the contest as well.
The “competition was great,” Cerimele says. “Tons of energy in that area.” Tony Palombino of Boombozz Pizza & Watch Bar in Louisville, Kentucky, earned second place in the Best of the Best category at IPC 2025, and Carmine Candito of Miami-based O’ Munaciello took third place.
While Carimele has not yet decided how to celebrate being named Best of the Best among the pizza industry’s top names, he says he is likely to choose a day to exclusively offer his winning pizza to customers in his hometown. “It means a lot. I feel gratitude and satisfaction knowing that I have completely fulfilled a lifetime goal. Hard work and perseverance win all day long.”
For more details about Pizza Expo 2025, visit our hub page.
