The Voice

Dave Moore's dream is to "own a successful pizzeria near the beach" and this local pizza maker and sauté chef came one step closer to his goal when he competed at the 18th World Pizza Championship in Salsomaggiore, Italy. More than 30 countries participated in the competition held in northern Italy near Tuscany in April. Moore graduated from the University of Central Florida last August with a degree in business management and continues to gain knowledge about the industry from his job at Backstreet Pizza in Oviedo.

Angelo and Staley Laise are the owners of Backstreet Pizza and are proud of Moore's accomplishments. "Dave is responsible and is a very focused individual. He is meticulous about his pies and puts a lot of care into each one he makes," they wrote in e-mail.

Last fall Moore competed in the National Pizza Competition in Orlando where he won second place in both the fastest pizza maker and longest dough stretch categories. His dough stretch was just one inch away from the gold. His performance won him a slot on the 2009 U.S. Pizza Team and a trip to the world competition, which was a thrill for his family. "My ancestors are from Italy so they were excited that I was the first one to go back to Italy," Moore said. "Italy was great, totally different. Pizzerias are usually family-owned cafes that serve very good food."

Moore grew up in Longwood and Altamonte Springs. He has been a pizza maker for eight years and credits working in a fast-paced environment with developing his culinary skills. "I started working at 15 or 16 years old in a few pizza places and they taught me different methods and ways to handle dough," he said.

Moore joined Backstreet Pizza when it opened in Oviedo last September and Angelo Laise recognized Moore as an asset. "We encourage and support the participation in the U.S. Pizza Team and we are proud to have David Moore at Backstreet Pizza. He has a lot of talent, is great at making the perfect pizza, and is also gearing up his skills in acrobatic tossing."

The U.S. Pizza Team is made up of dough-acrobats and pizza makers whose mission is to promote goodwill and talent in the pizza industry. Internationally recognized champion Ryan LaRose worked with Moore and introduced him to pizza spinning.

Working at Backstreet enables Moore to perfect his craft. "Sometimes we do dough tricks for our customers, the kids love it," Moore said.

How did the U.S. Team do in Italy? It wasn't easy, because of metric conversions, plus ingredients and scales are different in Italy. "We had to get used to all the changes with a very busy schedule and some late nights practicing our routines," Moore said.

The U.S. Team brought home three world titles: silver medal for team acrobatics and third and fourth place for individual dough throwing.

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Flipping dough

For more information about the U.S. Pizza Team and to watch video of their performance visit USPizzaTeam.com. For more information about Backstreet Pizza visit BackstreetPizza.net or call 407-365-4922.