Earlier this month, he performed in Italy as a member of the U.S. Pizza Team at the 18th
annual World Pizza Championship.
Moore, 23, who works for Backstreet Pizza in Oviedo, won his trip to Italy by scoring
second in both the dough-stretch and fastest-pizza-maker categories during qualifications
that took place last September in Orlando.
"Every day I work is practice," Moore said. "Every day I'm trying to be
faster, so we can get our pizzas out faster and improve my speed."
Moore, who grew up in Longwood and graduated from Lake Brantley High School, got his
first job at an Italian restaurant when he was 15. At first he answered the phone, but
eventually he learned how to toss the dough and make pizzas.
Meanwhile, he went on to the University of Central Florida,
where he earned a business degree. Moore said his goal is to own an Italian restaurant.
"Everything I'm doing is toward owning my own business," he said. "I have a
real understanding of the business, how everything works, and how to make good
pizzas."
He said that, in Italy, unbleached flour was used in the competition dough, which changed
its consistency and took some getting used to for Americans used to working with bleached
flour.
The team practiced whenever they could with Throw Dough, a soft-plastic material with the
look and feel of the real thing. Moore said the team carried it in their backpacks and
attracted a crowd whenever they practiced in public — especially in the Piazza San
Marco in Venice.
While Moore did not place during this year's competition, the U.S. team won second in team
acrobatics — a flashy combination of dough-tossing tricks and acrobatics — and
both third and fourth places in individual, freestyle dough throwing.
Looking ahead to next year, Moore said he intends to compete in all events and hopes to
make the acrobatics unit. "Things they do are really hard to do, but they make it
look so easy," Moore said.
The pizza-loving consumer who may not be interested in gold medals for dough stretching
should still probably care about hand-tossed pizza, said Caroline Felker, U.S. Pizza Team
coordinator.
She said that, while some big chains use mechanical means to work and flatten the dough,
hand-tossed pizza has had a resurgence during the past decade."If you hand toss, you
have better bubbles — good bread with nice bubbles," she said. "It excites
the air bubbles and makes them flavorful."