It's the year of Garlic Cream Cheese Pizza at CPK's Pizza Wars 2017

I remember last year when I was invited at the CPK Pizza War 2016, it's the California Pizza Kitchen's annual in-house Pizza Chef competition held at their branch in Shangri-La Plaza Mandaluyong. Now, the legacy continues to evolve on its third year run.

"California Pizza Kitchen has distinguished itself as a pizza authority attributable to its wide selection of innovative and artisanal pizzas. But more importantly, the secret behind the success of CPK here is, of course, the people behind it. Which is why, apart from showcasing the talents of our pizza chefs who are equally passionate about food as we are, we wanted to challenge them to take their culinary skill set to new heights. And sure enough, they have proven to be up to that challenge," said Bob Vallar, Marketing Manager of Global Restaurant Concepts, Inc. (GRCI)

"Here at CPK, we believe that there is a story behind every pizza. More than anything else, CPK Pizza Wars represents this - where the unique stories of our pizza chefs, more specifically with how their respective love affairs with food began within the context of their own upbringing, and utilizing this as their inspiration behind their all original pizza creations. The common thread here for all the talented finalists is that they find joy in what they do best in the kitchen and it shows. This just strengthens our commitment to take care of our people and nurture their innate culinary talents so that they too can be part of our celebration of California creativity, imagination, and passion." expounds Ms. Grace de Leon, CPK Philippines Regional Operations Director

The competition went through several rounds of heated competition, beginning with in-store elimination rounds. Each branch sent their own pizza champions to the semifinals, to compete with each other for the approval of judges Robert Vallar, Marketing Manager of GRCI, Chef Aldrin Ortille, GRCI Executive Chef, and KJ Calsarin, GRCI Training Manager. Of the semi-finalists, only three chefs were chosen to compete in the final round of competition. The finalists were:

 Danny Fernandez of CPK Greenbelt 5

Chef Danny's Thai Beef Pizza

Jay Mar dela Paz of CPK Promenade Greenhills

 Chef Jay's Chicken Banh Mi Pizza

 Rommel Panaligan, CPK Alabang Town Center

Chef Rommel's Garlic Cream Cheese Pizza

After several rounds of competition, Rommel Panaligan of CPK Alabang Town Center won his own creation Garlic Cream Cheese Pizza. As per Chef Rommel, it is a traditional pizza pasta with 3 different cheese and sausage. He was also the first winner of CPK Pizza War 2015 with his very own creation of Farmer's Pizza. Chef Rommel received Php 25,000 cash prize and his winning pizza will be featured in August 2017 as part of California Pizza Kitchen's annual celebration of National Pizza Day. His Garlic Cream Cheese Pizza will also be included in CPK Philippines' new menu which will be launched by next year.

The winner was voted from the polished palates of judges Archie Rodriguez (CPK President & Chef Executive Officer), Griffith Go (CPK Chief Financial Officer), Celebrity Chef & Philippine Culinary Icon, Sandy Daza and Social Media Guru & Foodie Extraordinaire Spanky Enriquez.

For more information, visit the official website at www.cpk.com.ph and follow their social media sites via California Pizza Kitchen Philippines on Facebook and @cpkphilippines on both Instagram and Twitter.