An Elkhart woman shakes up the competition at the International Pizza Expo. 18-year-old Carmilla Cataldo was the youngest competitor inside the Las Vegas Convention Center on August 17, where the 2021 International Pizza Expo was taking place. A title she is not unfamiliar with. Carmilla won first place at the 2020 Mid-American Restaurant Expo as a 17-year-old, bringing home “The Best Pizza in the Midwest”.

Carmilla is the daughter of Antonio’s Italian Ristorante owner, Paul Cataldo, who himself is a world-champion pizza maker. This year, Carmilla was one of 85 competitors inside her division. Her “Calabrese” pizza consisted of a 72-hour cold fermentation dough, homemade Pomodoro sauce, homemade sausage along with homemade hot honey sausage, charred bell peppers, cup and char pepperoni, Calabrese hot peppers with hot honey drizzle.