Reader Toby Srebnik of North Lauderdale (who works in Boca Raton) attended a pizza cookoff today (Thu.) in Boca Raton. Here’s his eyewitness report, with photos by Michael Katz:

Courtesy of Michael Katz (@TheWaffle on Twitter)

I was listening to a Miami/Fort Lauderdale sports radio station on my way home from Boca Raton last night, when I heard an interview with Chef Gordon Ramsay and the program’s host (Dan LeBatard). Dan often has non-sports guests on, and while I had read that Chef Ramsay was in town to film ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ TV show in Boca Raton, I thought I was dreaming when I heard Chef say there was going to be a Pizza Cooking Competition at 2 p.m. at Anna Vincenzo’s in the 5th Avenue Shops!

I then saw a tweet about it from @LeBatardShow when I got home, so I spoke to my wife Sara along with my friend Craig (@Lapp of worstpizza.com fame) and we decided we would show up and see what was going to take place, as we all love Chef Ramsay, Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen’s Nightmare.

When I arrived, I had to sign a waiver consenting to the use of my being filmed in order to participate. The event was held under a tent in the hot parking lot. Sara, Craig and our other friend Mike (@TheWaffle) came as well.

Vehicles from 560 AM WQAM, 610 AM WIOD, 790 AM The Ticket, BIG 105.9 FM and WPEC CBS 12/WFLX FOX 29 were stationed around the cooking center. Placards were in place for three South Florida teams – Miami Dolphins, Miami Heat and Florida Panthers.

When Burnie arrived (the Heat Mascot) as well as cheerleaders and dancers from all three teams, the crowd of about 200 of us went wild! Chef Ramsay then came onto the stage, welcomed everyone, announced that Anna DiVincenzo’s was re-opening for business tonight, and this was the official launch event. He also introduced the husband and wife owner as well as the husband’s father, who flew all the way from Sicily, Italy to be there.

Chef Ramsay then introduced the three teams – Bill Lindsay and Randy Moller, the radio broadcasting team of the Florida Panthers; James Jones of the Miami Heat, and four players from the Miami Heat including cornerback Nate Jones and wide receiver Anthony Armstrong. He said the three teams would have 3 minutes to use all the ingredients to cook their favorite pizza, and the owner would choose the winning pizza. The winning pizza would be featured as the house special tonight for the opening.

When the clock started, the crowd was in a frenzy! Players were laughing, Burnie was interfering, the cheerleaders were cheering, @Lapp was trying to give Randy Moeller advice (which he took!) and the camera crew for the show captured it all. I’m pretty sure we ended up on TV, even if only for 2 seconds.

When three minutes was complete, Chef Ramsay said they were taking the pizzas into the restaurant (which was behind the tent) to be cooked for 6 minutes in the brand-new wood burning oven. He also mentioned it was brand new because they never used to make pizza at the restaurant previously, which is almost unheard of for an Italian restaurant.

While the pizzas were being cooked, the staff of the restaurant began bringing out 10-12 pizzas for sampling – I had three mini slices, and Sara and I loved the light taste of the vegetable-style pizza.

Finally, after 6 minutes, true to his word, Chef Ramsay returned and brought the owners up to the stage along with Angelo. Angelo was the official taste tester. He tried the Panthers first, followed by the Heat and then the Dolphins. He didn’t mince words about how they tasted, including telling James Jones his pizza “was a little too doughy.”

As the owners consulted with Angelo, James Jones took out a Miami heat Jersey that said Ramsay 1 on the back, in an effort to try to bribe the judges and Chef Ramsay. However, in the end, it was all for naught as Angelo chose the Miami Dolphins concoction as the winning selection.

To close the event, the cheerleaders tossed Panthers Hats, Heat shirts and Dolphins shirts to the crowd and the owners tossed miniature pizza paperweights with “toppings on the front” and (smartly) the name, address and phone number of Anna DiVincenzo’s on the back.

It was exciting to be that close to Gordon Ramsay and to share in the experience.

Toby Srebnik

North Lauderdale, FL