Halifax chef to compete, enter fan-favourite 'Lumberjack pizza' in national competition

When it comes to piecing together the perfect pizza, chef Tim Andresen thinks he has a winning combination.

“Ever since we brought it out it’s been the most popular pizza we’ve ever had,” said Andresen.

Andresen has worked as a chef at Morris East in Halifax for nearly a decade.

The restaurant will be entering the restaurant’s “Lumberjack pizza” into the upcoming Canadian Pizza Summit in Toronto, where Andresen will compete for the prestigious title of “Pizza Chef of the Year.”

“I really would love to be the champion, so I can bring it back to Nova Scotia,” he says. “I really want the bragging rights!”

The fan-favourite pizza features sausage and smoked bacon with caramelized onion, smoked applewood cheddar cheese and fried rosemary topped with a maple drizzle.

Andresen, alongside 22 other chefs from across Canada, will serve up their own speciality pies in the non-traditional category of the competition.

While he makes it look easy, the award-winning chef says there are some techniques you knead-to-know.

“If you have a nice puffy crust, if you get the blistering and spotting along the side -- that takes a trick. You won’t just do that on your first try.”

In the end, the judges will be looking for competitors to hit all the right notes.

“Overall aesthetic, technique, and taste. It’s still pizza at the end of the day. It's not like there's going to be a bad one in the bunch, but they do have to decide!"

Andresen is no stranger to competition – he placed third at the 2015 International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.