Rookie pizza team takes fifth place in region at Las Vegas contest
Published 12:01 am Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Cactus Jack’s Pizza didn’t win the 27th annual International Pizza Challenge at the annual International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.
But the Lynnwood pizza place didn’t come in last either.
In fact, Wendy Gardner and Patti Kane, who opened Cactus Jack’s Pizza with their husbands, Dave and Mike, about two years ago, took fifth place in their region, which included 13 pizza-making teams from Washington, Oregon, California and Colorado.
Gardner and Kane, both self-taught cooks, made one of their house specialties, a customer favorite called Jack the Greek, featuring homemade dough, Alfredo sauce, spinach, black olives, red onions, roma tomatoes and feta cheese.
“We also scored higher than several of the international teams,” Gardner said. “We were surprised how many of the other teams actually had real, trained chefs creating their pizzas.”
Gardner said they plan to go back next year and compete in both the traditional and non-traditional categories, a common strategy among the other participants.
“Who knows: Maybe we will bring home the grand prize,” Gardner said of the $10,000 awards given in each category.
The 2011 winners were Carmelo Oliveri of Verona, Italy, in the traditional category, and Luigi Vianello of Venice, Italy, in the non-traditional category.
Cactus Jack’s Pizza is located at 12926 Mukilteo Speedway, Lynnwood. Call 425-348-6644 or see www.cactusjackspizza.com for hours or more information.
Learn more about the pizza challenge at www.pizzaexpo.com.
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
