The pizza
after the prize.

A competition pizza, in Di Francesco's view, needs to be close to the one a restaurant can actually serve. An exceptional entry means little to a diner if it cannot be repeated.

“It's one thing making one really good pizza, it's another thing doing it multiple times over,” he said. “So consistency was something that I took away from that.”

That is the obligation he describes after a win. Public expectations rise, while the restaurant still has to do the work of meeting them. The prize can draw attention to a pizza; it cannot make the next one.

He also values competition for the chance to see other people's techniques, skills and products. He describes the experience and learning as more valuable than simply finishing first. Returning to compete meant being a learner again, not only the person other makers recognised.

The attention has a less comfortable side. Asked how he handles the pressure, Di Francesco described developing a thick skin and trying not to read online comments or reviews, provided he believes he is giving his best.

But that answer came with a condition: if he knows he is falling short, he needs to pay attention to what people are saying.

“Now, if in your heart you feel that you're not, then you need to really look at what people are saying,” he said.

It is an important qualification. He is describing how he protects himself from hostile commentary, not offering restaurant owners a licence to ignore their customers. His own standard still has to withstand an honest look.

Ask what can cost a competitor a title, even when a pizza looks good, and he starts with timing.

Dough is a live product, he explained. It can be underdeveloped or overdeveloped. Travelling competitors also have to think about how they transport their ingredients and keep them fresh.

His emphasis is on preparing for the moment the dough is needed, rather than relying on how the finished pizza looks. It is a useful distinction at an event where the presentation is immediately visible but the preparation behind it is not.

We put a specific problem to him: what would he look at first if a small, independent Brisbane pizzeria was struggling with costs but did not want to compromise its food?

His starting point was the menu. Too many items, he said, can damage margins when some do not sell often enough. A tighter selection can mean less waste and ingredients moving through the kitchen more quickly.

Then he moved beyond the dishes themselves. He would check whether the restaurant had a management system supporting its costings and recipes, before looking at wasted labour.

That sequence is more useful than a general instruction to cut costs: look at what sells, what is wasted, how recipes are costed and where work is being lost. These were his priorities for a hypothetical operator, not a diagnosis of any particular Brisbane business. He did not offer a guaranteed saving or a recommended number of dishes.

For someone making the case for simplicity, Di Francesco has a conspicuously elaborate pizza in his history.

He recalled being asked to make one with 99 cheeses and initially thinking the call was a joke. He agreed, then hung up and considered how difficult it would be. He said he found the cheeses, made the pizza and liked the result.

The projects need separating: Guinness World Records documents the 99-cheese pizza and the later 154-cheese record reported in 2019. That record was subsequently beaten.

The revealing part of his recollection is the gap between saying yes and working out how to deliver. The number made a headline. In his telling, the challenge began when the phone call ended.

On the Queensland competition floor, Di Francesco sees progress in people who return. He described competitors telling him they had worked on advice he gave them the year before, with the change evident in their pizzas.

For him, useful judging gives a maker something to take away and develop. That makes the months between competitions part of the process, rather than simply a wait for another chance at a prize.

His advice for a diner is less complicated than his cheese record: start with a margherita or a tomato-based marinara.

Too many toppings can hide faults in the pizza underneath, he said. Ordering something simple gives you a clearer sense of the work.

It brings the conversation back to the standard he described after Parma. A reputation might get someone through the door. What matters next is the pizza they are served.