S
ay “Cheese" Monroeville! Caliente
Pizza & Draft House recently opened
their newest store, located at 2125
Mosside Blvd. in Monroeville. Locally-
owned and operated, this location is the
fifth store for the rapidly growing pizza
restaurant known for its internationally-
acclaimed pies and extensive craft brew
roster.
Nick and Angie Bogacz, the Pittsburgh
couple who founded Caliente seven years
ago, have made a habit of picking up these
kinds of vacant spaces and storied spots to
revitalize local communities. This particular
location has many historic ties. Though the
building was built sometime in the 1980s,
the interior is embellished with wood over
a hundred years old, marble believed to be
from the Grant Building downtown, and
a bar sourced from the historic Wagner
Tea Room in Charleroi. On the outside,
two lampposts from the Monroeville
Wall Bridge flank the building. Caliente
will preserve the existing features while
bringing its own twist to create the fun
environment its shops are known for.
International award-winning Pizza
Champion 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 gained him
critical acclaim from pizza aficionados and
industry leaders.
Bogacz, 40, and his wife Angela Bogacz
and both are 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 use 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,” says Bogacz. “I had as
many as five jobs at one time—saving and
working toward our dream of having our
ovwn pizza shop.”
Having worked mostly for corporate
shops during his pizza career, Bogacz knew
his strength at that 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—“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.
This year, Bogacz andVon Hansen
were invited to join the “all-star” team of
internationally well-known pizza chefs
competing in the 28th annual Pizza World
Championship— the world’s largest pizza
competition that took place in Parma, Italy
from April 9 to 11.
“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 in
competitions.”
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,” says Bogacz.
Bogacz and nine of his employees
returned to the International Pizza Expo in
Las Vegas in March, and in April, Bogacz
andVon Hansen were invited to join the
“all-star” team of internationally well-
known pizza chefs competing in the 28th
annual Pizza World Championship—the
world’s largest pizza competition that took
place in Parma, Italy, from April 9-11.
The dynamic duo and their team
brought home more accolades from this
year’s competitions. This year in Las
Vegas, two Caliente managers placed
in the top ten pizzamakers in the world
in their divisions. Bloomfield general
manager Nick Fink competed with the
“Nicky Had a Little Lamb” pizza topped
with herbs, arugula and lamb in the “Non-
Traditional” division while Aspinwall
general manager Jay Falk opted for the
literal “Quail Four Ways” in the “Pan”
division. For the World Pizza Games,
in the pizza acrobatics competition,
Mt. Lebanon general manager Matt
Hickey placed in the top 10 in “Freestyle
Acrobatic Pizza Tossing,” “Fastest Dough
Stretch” and the “Pizza Triathlon.” Hickey
also came out on top in the “Largest
Dough Stretch,” earning the bronze medal
in that category.
In Italy, Eric Von Hansen won Best
pizza in America by competing in the
Pizza Taglio Division with his Mee-Maw
creation. He was the only American
competitor to take home any prize.
“Pizza is a food that is used to celebrate
with,” says Bogacz. “Your child 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 anyway we can.” n
MONROEVILLE
❘
FALL 2019
29