I
nternational award-winning pizza
champion Nick Bogacz’s passion
for pizza began with his first job
as a delivery boy in 1996. Since
then, he’s risen through corporate pizza
chain franchises and now owns five
independent stores in the Pittsburgh area.
Bogacz’s expertise has garnered critical
acclaim from pizza aficionados and
industry leaders.
Bogacz, 40, and his wife Angela Bogacz
are both longtime Pittsburgh locals. “I
graduated from Pine-Richland in 1996,
and Angie graduated from Hampton in
1998,” he says. “We reside in Hampton
Township in a neighborhood where I
used to deliver pizzas when I was 17!”
The couple’s children, Lilly, 18, and
Perry, 16, both work in the business—
Lilly in the marketing department and
Perry in the kitchen.
Bogacz worked in the pizza industry
for 16 years before opening his first
store, Caliente, in Bloomfield in 2012.
“I was also a full-time mailman for four
years, while working full time as a pizza
shop general manager,” recalls Bogacz.
“I had as many as five jobs at
one time—saving and
working toward our dream of having our
own pizza shop.”
Having worked mostly for corporate
shops during his pizza career, Bogacz
knew that his strength at the time was
not culinary, but he could effectively lead
a team. He enlisted the help of his good
friend Eric Von Hansen—a trained fine
dining chef—as culinary advisor to help
perfect the recipes.
“I painted a future vision of world
championships, more stores, vertical
growth and, of course, financial gains in
the way of an increased salary for these
accomplishments,” says Bogacz. “He
was hesitant at first, but soon I received
the call that he was putting in his 90-day
notice at the restaurant where he’d been
executive chef for seven years. I was elated
and so excited to be partnering in this way
with my talented childhood friend.”
Soon after, with Von Hansen’s
guidance, Caliente had its winning
recipe for “The Quack Attack”—a pizza
consisting of pan-seared duck, roasted
garlic, butter sauce, wild mushroom ragu,
fontanelle and parmesan cheeses, baby
arugula, cherry tomatoes and truffle
garlic oil.
The friends then traveled to the
International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas,
with the only pizza pan they owned and
their specialty pizza, and were announced
winners of Best Pan Pizza in the World.
This was just the first of many accolades
to follow for Bogacz, Von Hansen
and Caliente.
“We now own a lot more than one
pan and we sell pan pizzas on our
menu using our ‘championship
dough’ in addition to offering
The Quack Attack,” says
Bogacz. “The excitement
of that first win was
contagious and we
started to build a culture
within the company that
included our employees
wanting to compete.”
Each competition is
different. Judges score
taste, presentation and
the dough. “Because our
dough is airy and light,
we always score well in that
category and have a chance to
win every competition—it’s just a matter
of choosing the right mix of ingredients,”
notes Bogacz.
He and nine of his employees returned
to the International Pizza Expo in Las
Vegas in March, and Bogacz and Von
Hansen will also travel to Parma, Italy,
in April to compete in the World Pizza
Championship.
“Pizza is a food that is used to celebrate
with,” says Bogacz. “Your kid gets a good
report card—pizza, passes a driver’s
test—pizza; you get a new house and
have people over to enjoy it—pizza.
There’s a reason why the phrase Pizza
Party is so embedded in our culture.
Little Leagues, churches and nonprofits
can feed the masses with pizza and we’re
happy to supply it and in any way we can.”
While continuing to compete, Bogacz
hopes to open more stores throughout
the Pittsburgh area. “I want anyone in
Western PA to drive 10 minutes or less
and enjoy a cold craft beer and slice of our
pizza,” he says.
For more information, visit
pizzadrafthouse.com, thepizzaequation.com
and worldpizzachampions.com/
nick-bogacz. ■
CALIENTE LOCATIONS
Bloomfield
4624 Liberty Avenue, 15224
412.682.1414
Allison Park
4706 William Flynn Highway, 15101
412.486.1010
Mt. Lebanon
329 Castle Shannon Boulevard, 15234
412.344.5566
Aspinwall
225 Commercial Avenue, 15215
412.784.1010
Monroeville
2125 Mosside Boulevard, 15146
412.457.8777
FOX CHAPEL AREA
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SPRING 2019
43