U.S. Pizza Team Premiere Members

Leah Scurto – PizzaLeah

Leah Scurto resides in Sonoma County, California and has been making pizza for over 25 years. She currently owns and operates PizzaLeah in Windsor, Ca. Since opening in March 2020, Pizzaleah has been included multiple times on the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of the 25 Top Restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2022 Leah was featured on Hulu’s original show, Best In … [Read more...] about Leah Scurto – PizzaLeah

Daniel “The Big Cheese” Saccone – Saccone’s Pizza, Leander, TX.

With numerous awards and years of competing under his belt, Daniel "The Big Cheese" has dedicated his time and expertise to representing the Lone Star state in national and international competition alike. After several years of competing at USPT sanctioned competitions, his tenacity paid off and he was made an official Competing Member of the United States Pizza Team. 2005 … [Read more...] about Daniel “The Big Cheese” Saccone – Saccone’s Pizza, Leander, TX.

Lars Smith, State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria, Los Altos, CA.

Lars Smith is the chef and co-owner of state of Mind Public House and Pizzeria in Los Altos, California. He has been in the industry since 2002, but has had a love for food since he was a child, always cooking with his grandmothers. He always new that he would eventually open his own family run restaurant. In 2017, he won the international pizza challenge Non-Traditional … [Read more...] about Lars Smith, State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria, Los Altos, CA.

Derrick Tung, Paulie Gee’s, Logan Square, Chicago, IL.

Derrick Tung, owner and operator of Paulie Gee's Logan Square, started out by learning how to make pizza at home through YouTube tutorials and PizzaMakingForum.com discussions. After a few years of working at different pizzerias to learn restaurant operations and pizza techniques, and many road trips to visit some of the top 100 pizzerias in the US (and some international trips … [Read more...] about Derrick Tung, Paulie Gee’s, Logan Square, Chicago, IL.