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For anyone who loves the ultimate trio of carbs, tomato sauce and cheese, Australia is a slice of heaven. Yep, our nation’s top chefs proudly make some of the best pizza in the world, regularly securing spots on the elite 50 Top Pizzas list. Now, the Australian dough scene has scored another accolade, with Brisbane-based chef Stefano Spataro having been crowned the second-best classic pizza chef in the entire world at the 2026 Campionato Mondiale della Pizza (World Pizza Championship).
Hosted annually in Parma, Italy, this annual competition is pretty much the Olympics of pizza making. The 2026 edition drew a massive field of almost 800 pizzaiolos from 55 countries, all battling it out for glory across categories ranging from traditional Neapolitan and Roman to gluten-free and freestyle.
Across three high-pressure days, Stefano Spataro went head-to-head in the classic, gluten-free and Neapolitan categories. The Sicilian-born chef – who moved to Brisbane more than a decade ago and co-founded Elementi Restaurant in 2021 – not only placed in the top 40 across all three events, but bagged the silver medal in the classic category, outshining more than 350 other competitors.
Rooted in Sicilian tradition with a modern twist, Spataro’s pizza – the Marea Siciliana – featured a thin crust, topped with fresh tomato sauce, whipped sheep ricotta, Mediterranean anchovies, capers, black olives, and a drizzle of wild fennel and parsley olive oil. He described it as “a harmonious balance of savoury and salty notes,” and the judges were clearly impressed.
Spataro said, “Winning second place at the World Pizza Championship 2026 is an incredible honour and a recognition of my passion and dedication to traditional Sicilian pizza. It feels surreal and very rewarding to see my craft appreciated at an international level, and it motivates me to continue pushing the boundaries of authentic pizza making.”
All chefs were given a strict 12-minute window to prepare and present their masterpieces to the judges. Each pizza had to be perfectly round and baked in a wood or electric oven, directly on a refractory pizza stone. In the evaluation, the judges took into account the contestant's technical precision, skill and speed, alongside their professionalism, cleanliness and uniform presentation.
Spataro also earned seventh place in the gluten-free category and 36th in the Neapolitan STG category. Another renowned Australian chef, Johnny Di Francesco of Melbourne’s 400 Gradi, claimed fifth in the Neapolitan event, having made a triumphant return to the stage after claiming the win more than a decade ago.
You can explore the full list of winners here.
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