Pine resident helps set record for largest pizza party

Imagine the logistics of providing one of America’s favorite foods to more than 3,000 people gathered in the same place at the same time.

“It was definitely months of planning, and then it took a whole week of executing,” Nick Bogacz, owner of Caliente Pizza and Draft House, said.

When everything came together, he and Caliente director of operations Eric Von Hansen joined representatives from 40 restaurants in raising $42,090 for charity while setting a Guinness World Records mark for largest pizza party.

Organizing the event was the World Pizza Champions team, a nonprofit organization of industry professionals for which Bogacz serves as vice president.

“This record attempt was a challenge that took dozens, if not hundreds of people to pull off,” the Pine resident said. “We went ahead and wrangled up all our members across the country.”

Leading the effort was Mike Bausch, World Pizza Champions president and owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Okla. The record-setting festivities took place Jan. 21 in the Donald W. Reynolds Center at the University of Tulsa, with each of the 3,357 participants eating two slices of pizza within 15 minutes, and the proceeds went to Make-A-Wish Oklahoma.

“It’s really important for us to make sure we’re out there in the community doing good things and giving back,” Bogacz said.

The attempt was part of the pregame festivities for a Tulsa men’s basketball game. The university hosted an after party featuring additional pizza, drinks and a beer garden.

Achieving global recognition is becoming a major part of the legacy for Caliente, which has six Pittsburgh-area locations, including Aspinwall, Hampton, Monroeville and Sewickley. For example, the restaurant’s Quack Attack duck pie was named the world’s best pan pizza in 2016, and the following year, a team member set the record for the world’s largest pizza stretch.

World Pizza Champions, of which Von Hansen also is a member, participates in international competition, educational outreach, public demonstrations and community-based service, and is dedicated to promoting pizza making as a respected craft and viable career choice. Inclusion on the team is by invitation only.

For Bogacz, a Pine-Richland High School graduate, pizza pretty much has been a way of life since he started working in 1996 at a Hampton pizzeria. He met his future wife, Angie, a Hampton High School student at the time, when she had a job at another restaurant across Route 19, and that particular building now serves as a Caliente site.