West Ashley’s Mike Pitera is the 2026 Galbani Pizza Cup Grand Champion, earns trip to compete in Italy
from Staff Reports
From making pizzas as a teenager in New York to bringing home a national grand championship, Mike Pitera has built a career around dough, determination, and a desire to keep getting better.
Now, the West Ashley resident and owner of Pizza a Modo Mio is taking that pursuit to Italy.
Pitera, a member of the U.S. Pizza Team, was named grand champion at the Galbani Professionale Pizza Cup, earning a trip to compete at the 2027 Campionato Mondiale della Pizza. The world pizza championship is scheduled for April 6–8 in Parma, Italy.
“I am beyond excited and proud to announce that I just took home 1ST PLACE at the GALBANI PIZZA CUP, earning the title of GRAND CHAMPION!!!” Pitera wrote in a celebratory social media post announcing the win.
Sponsored by Galbani Professionale and hosted by the U.S. Pizza Team, the competition took place during the Oct. 25–27 Pizza Tomorrow Summit and Florida Restaurant Show in Orlando. The event brings together pizza makers from across the country for culinary competitions and displays of dough-handling skill.
This year’s culinary categories included Pizza in the Pan, highlighting pan pizzas made with Galbani or Lactalis brand cheese; On the Menu, requiring competitors to prepare a pizza offered at their restaurants; Pizza for 2, a collaborative challenge; and Backyard Pizza Oven, open to professionals and amateurs. Athletic events included freestyle acrobatics, largest dough stretch, fastest pizza maker, and fastest box folder.
For Pitera, the experience offered an opportunity to measure his skills alongside fellow pizza makers whose commitment matched his own.
“The level of talent, passion, creativity, and dedication at this competition was absolutely unbelievable,” he wrote. “To be surrounded by some of the best pizza makers in the industry and walk away with this honor means more to me than words can describe.”
His announcement also reflected on the years of work behind the championship, tracing a path from his teenage pizza-making days in New York to restaurant ownership in Charleston.
“I’ve never stopped learning, pushing myself, or trying to become better at what I love doing,” he wrote.
Pitera thanked his wife, Julie, his family, employees, and customers for supporting a journey he described as filled with long hours, sacrifices, challenges, and passion.
Next comes the opportunity to carry that work onto an international stage, representing his restaurant, his community, and the United States.
“Time to represent Charleston, South Carolina, and the USA on the world stage!” he wrote.
Pizza a Modo Mio is in the Bees Ferry Crossing shopping center at 3125 Bees Ferry Road. For more information, call (843) 640-3897 or visit www.modomiopizza.com. For more information about the world championship, visit campionatomondialedellapizza.it.
