Queensland's Chef of the Year and Pizza Champion Crowned at Food & Hospitality Queensland

Antonio Masella of Maiori Pizzeria and Dario Manca of Attimi have taken the state's top pizza and chef titles at Food & Hospitality Queensland 2026, the trade show we previewed last month.

The event ran on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 October at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre and drew a record 6,305 industry professionals over the two days. Speakers included Nicholas Rae of Toby's Estate, Andy Ashby of C'est Bon, Adriano Zumbo, Karkalla's Mindy Woods and Andrew Richardson of Stanbroke Meats. Three competitions ran across the show: the Queensland Pizza Championships, Queensland Professional Chef of the Year and Battle of the Butchers.

The pizza champion

Masella, the owner of Maiori Pizzeria in Peregian Springs on the Sunshine Coast, won both the overall title and Best Classic Pizza, with a Napoletana. His creative entry was built on a faba bean purée base, topped with mozzarella, pancetta, Italian sausage, spicy ricotta, a parmesan crisp and caviar. Anthony Taranto of Otto Cucina took Best Creative Pizza.

Head judge Johnny Di Francesco, the founder of 400 Gradi, World No.1 Pizza Champion and author of World's Best Pizza and Food of Naples, said the dough set the competitors apart. "The winner's dough was light, airy, easy to chew and practically melted in your mouth," he said. "Antonio's ingredients were beautifully balanced, and he really followed the 'less is more' approach. You could really taste the quality in the anchovies and in every ingredient."

He also rated the field highly. "The standard of the competition was really impressive this year. I'd say it was 150% better than last year, so it was a solid win against competitors who were also exceptional."

The chef of the year

Manca, the owner, director and head chef of Attimi by Dario Manca, won Queensland Professional Chef of the Year, along with $8,000 in cash and a place in the Australian Professional Chef of the Year in 2027. He was a late call-up after another chef pulled out. His earlier accolades include Australia's Best Young Chef of the Year (Cira edition), a semi-final place in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year world competition, and Best Pasta in Australia and a top-10 finish at the Barilla Pasta World Championship.

The competition puts the state's top chefs through mystery box rounds under intense time pressure, and this year a new scoring format counted all four rounds, which kept the strongest chefs in the running through to the final. Manca made gnocchi and ramen noodles from scratch in his.

Head judge Jamie Gannon said the late call-up helped. "I think coming in and not having to overthink the comp helped him," he said. "I've been involved in this competition for four years, and I have never seen anyone make pasta in a final. We want the guys to push the boundaries, especially when it comes to making things from scratch."

Gannon also had a message for next year's entrants. "At the next shows, I want more female chefs to apply. We had our first female finalist at this event, and she was clean, organised and ticked the boxes; it was just her timing at the end that caught up with her."

He placed the event in a tough year for the industry. "As an industry, these events are really important right now, because everyone's squeezing their margins. Getting together and celebrating chefs and hospitality is so important. That's what hospitality is about: bringing people together and having fun."

Battle of the Butchers

The 2026 Australian Butcher Team was named at the show: Luke Thomas of Millers Gourmet Meats, Suzy Roegar of Gem Butchery, Kiara Marrone of Thomas Farms, Hamish McGindle of Peter Bouchier Butchers, Brennan Robertson of Meatsmith and Jessica Bartles of Vermey's Quality Meats.

Read our preview of the competitions.