Fire & Dough has been crowned the winners of Newcastle's Slice Wars pizza competition - with visitors loving their Star Wars themed creation.
Obi-wan Pepperoni, Jabba the Nuttz and All Jedi'z on Me were among the tasty pizza portions created by local food vendors in this year's search for Newcastle's best pizza this weekend, with thousands of people heading to Wylam Brewery in Exhibition Park to place their vote.
Almost 18,000 portions of pizza were consumed during the two-day quest to discover the city's best pizza, with North East favourites such as Scream for Pizza, Log Pizza Co and Gingerinos putting up some still competition.
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But in the end Fire & Dough claimed the top spot with their creation, Darth Meatball. This tasty creation featured a marinara base, fennel sausage meatballs, crispy onions, garlic breadcrumbs, parmesan and basil.
Second place was awarded to newcomers, Square, who entered the competition with their creation, Obi-wan Pepperoni. After launching the business last year, Square won over the taste buds of Slice Wars visitors with their creation which consisted of a caramelised cheese crust, three cheese blend, double pepperoni, slow cooked Square red sauce, pecorino romano, whipped ricotta flowers, Square hot honey, chilli flakes and fresh basil.
Slice Wars is a family-friendly and dog-friendly event which has, and always will be, free entry, with no ticket required. Once at the event, people wishing to sample the delights on offer can purchase tokens costing £4 each for food items from inside Wylam Brewery.
The winners were decided after counting the number of tokens collected by each vendor over throughout the event, which took place on May 27 and 28. There was also an opportunity to vote for the best pizza via a voting slip.
The people's choice went to all out gluten free vendor, DOU_H&CO, who delighted visitors with their creation, Sha-wars-man. Their pizza consisted of San Marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, chicken breast marinated in shawarma spices, crispy onions, fresh coriander and tahini drizzle.
All of the 12 local vendors produced some stiff competition and some may return for the next food battle at Wylam Brewery - The Battle Royale - in August. Event organisers, 44Events, say The Battle Royale is "like a best of the best from across all food genres". They added: "We invite back previous winners from individual events and get to try some new vendors."
Speaking about Slice Wars, Danny Hughes, from 44Events, said: "On reflection this year's event was bananas, even surpassing the footfall of Battle of the Burger on the Saturday.
"Almost 18,000 portions of pizza across the Friday evening, and full Saturday session. All the vendors were incredible and represented a really diverse pizza offering. Newcastle really does have it good for pizza!"
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