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Following over three weeks of high-octane, dough-tastic conflicts between 99 of the city's pizza vendors, we can now announce that the winner of the 2019 Beijing Pizza Cup is: Pizza Saporita!
Congratulations to this year's Pizza Cup Champions, Pizza Saporita!
In an extremely close-fought battle, Q Mex was pushed to the floor cheese-first by Pizza Saporita. Both played a fierce game to the end but it was Saporita who managed to beat other venues in their bracket, including 2017's champions Pie Squared, last year's runner-ups La Pizza, and finally Q Mex, who themselves placed eighth in 2018.
The small Saporita kitchen team revel in their win
Saporita has always been a formidable challenger and never dropping too far away from the top of the pile, coming fifth place in 2015, ninth in 2016, slipping down to 19th in 2017, before bouncing back to 10th last year.
The competition in the final round was particularly intense and there were many attempts to influence the outcome of the vote. Luckily, we were able to screen and weed out all but the most honest of votes, and suffice it to say, none of the top four in this year's competition – Pizza Saporita, Q Mex Bar & Grill, Bottega, and Great Leap Brewing – need to be concerned about the quality of their slices, all of which are among the best this city has in our readers' eyes.
Alex di Tullio sits outside the Pizza Saporita Shizipo venue after the win
Speaking at Pizza Saporita's Shizipo venue just after their win was announced, chef Alex di Tullio said that after having taken a break from the Pizza Festival last year, they were especially happy at this year's event: "We saw that a lot of people were interested in our pizza and lots of people were asking questions," he added, "Our number one pizza in sales is our Forest pizza, topped with sausage, truffle, mozzarella cheese, and mushrooms."
Di Tullio says that Saporita's Roma-style pizza hits the right balance for their Chinese customers
When asked why their pizza saw them crowned 2019 Pizza Champions, di Tullio didn't hesitate to explain: "For the quality and the price, we are the best. Also, we’re the only type of Roma-style pizza in Beijing. We think that this style better suits Chinese tastes because diners here often just think of pizza of flour and water, therefore, if you do something really traditional like Neapolitan-style pizza they think that the price is unfair. However, if you do something more complicated, add more toppings, make something more special, they think maybe the price is fair and it's more similar to what they expect from a dining experience."
And it's not just Chinese patrons who agree. In last week's Maovember-affiliated charity pizza gorge, we asked the 24 attendees to taste, and rate their favorites of the Final Four. They too voted Pizza Saporita as their "Expert's Pick," rating it 2.71 out of 4, pipping Bottega's score of 2.67/4 by a hair. Our 2019 Pizza Cup runner-ups Q Mex, meanwhile, finished with 2.52/4, beating Great Leap Brewing's 2.10/4. The experts don't lie, folks!
Saporita's signature "Forest" pizza has been a favorite of the city's since the restaurant's launch
Finally, asking what Fabrizio Montori, founder of Pizza Saporita would think about the win, he said "I think our boss is going to be very happy and the result will also be unexpected for him because we see the other restaurants have very strong marketing campaigns. We knew it wouldn't be easy but now that we've won, I would like to say thank you very much and we hope we can see you all in the shop."
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The 2019 Pizza Cup final rankingsWith the Championship Round done and dusted, we can now look back and gaze upon the final rankings of the 99 competitors in this year's Pizza Cup:
20. 3 Little Pigs by Andy's Craft Sausages 30. The Cheesecake Factory32. Lily's American Diner43. Xian at East, Beijing 46. Scott's Family Ristorante Italiano 49. Tavola Italian Dining 50. Lievito Gourmet Pizza and Bar 57. MIO, Four Seasons Hotel advertisement
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64. BUONA BOCCA Italian Bistro 73. Via Roma, Kempinski Hotel 86. Flypizza & Hoodadak Chicken
Sherpa’s, the official sponsor of the 2019 Beijing Pizza Cup, are offering new users RMB 50 off (min. spend RMB 99) food delivery and RMB 10 off any movie ticket purchased through the Sherpa's App. Simply scan the QR below and follow the instructions.
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Photos: the Beijinger, Uni Youadvertisement
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