Best Cook Competition

This April, 64 of Pagliacci’s best tossers tested their mettle against one another. The early rounds saw some great performances – especially in the North Bracket where Mike Baxley from 145th, Kyu Han from 85th, Brian Youngdahl from Ballinger and John Bassage from 145th put up not only the best 4 scores of their region, but the best 4 scores of the first round. Cumulative scores helped the North 4 in the Sweet 16 where they moved on to the finals – along with Josh Frost of Miller and Paul Williams of Crossroads (due to very tight scoring, the final group was expanded). The finals were held Thursday at Lake City Way. Paul Williams was the lone holdover from the finals last year and proved that having been through the gauntlet before made him more battle-tested. His nearly perfect pie went into the oven in 34 seconds and held off Kyu from 85th who took 2nd place, a mere 3 points away from the title. Tossing to “Octopus’ Garden” by the Beatles, Mike Baxley hacked his way into 3rd place. Congratulations to Paul who now owns the title of Best Cook in Pagliacci!

Paul Williams takes the title of Best Cook.

Kyu Han dazzles with his tossing.

Mike Baxley prepares to show his stuff.

Brian Youngdahl shows how Ballinger does it.

Josh Frost readies his dough ball with a little flour.

John Bassage lays down the sauce.