Luca Covalea touched down in his home land of Italy in November as a chef and restaurant owner, but left with an additional title under his belt — naming him one of the top 10 pizza makers in the world.
Since then, he’s been back to Italy, securing another title — 2025’s Best International Pizza Maker of Oceania.
And best of all, his restaurant is right here in the City of Casey.
Luca says the 2025 DOC Pizza World Championship was a surreal experience as he was able to meet many like-minded people, who he had looked up to.
“The competition was honestly pretty crazy,” said the Italian chef.
“When I arrived, I realized there were more than 700 competitors from all over the world, from many different countries, and that was overwhelming in a good way.
“Another thing that really struck me when I got there was seeing so many people I’ve always looked up to on social media, professionals whose work I truly admire, competing alongside me.
‘That made the challenge even tougher, but at the same time, it made me even more excited to be there.”
Luca opened up La Calabrese Pizzeria in Endeavour Hills after he moved to Australia in 2019.
His main role in his shop is taking off all the dough throughout the development and fermentation process — a task that he says is crucial and most important.
In fact, Luca says this was one of the most challenging aspects during the championship.
“Timing is really important when it comes to dough, especially for fermentation and temperature, so not having full control over that was stressful,” he said.
“At the same time, it was incredibly exciting.
“I felt excited, nervous, and scared all at once.”
For Luca, the most important thing after coming back from Italy with his new titles, is being present on the restaurant floor, ensuring that customers who visit La Calabrese get the ultimate experience.
And that it;s not just about being ranked the best pizza maker in Oceania but also about giving customers a “great overall experience and atmosphere.”.
He doesn’t remember the exact moment he fell in love with food and creativity, but the chef knows it happened without him realising it.
“I was around 12 years old, watching my mum cook at home, and I was completely drawn to it.
“I loved eating, of course, but even more, I loved exploring flavors and understanding how food came together.
At 17 years old, he began to work in “one of the most prestigious pizzerias in Turin”, which he says taught him a lot about the art.
“That experience gave me my first real exposure to the discipline, technique, and passion behind professional cooking and it confirmed that this was the path I wanted to follow.”
According to Luca, his passion for cooking, flavours and creating is deeply rooted in his childhood — growing up with a mixture of both southern and northern Italian cuisines.
“At home, I was raised on Southern Italian cuisine, which reflects a strong, sunny, and passionate personality,” said Luca.
“At the same time, I was deeply influenced by Northern Italian food, which is more elegant, technical, and refined.”
Growing up between the two worlds of flavour, Luca says it shaped him as a chef.
“It pushed me to explore different styles of cooking and to understand how tradition and technique can work together,” said the chef.
“That balance is exactly what you see today in my kitchen.
“I love bringing the bold, traditional flavors of the south, but approaching them with more modern techniques and a contemporary mindset.
“If I had to describe my cuisine in a few words, I’d say it’s friendly, rooted in tradition, innovative, and always exploring.”
The chef is excited about these new opportunities and the titles he’s accumalated for his passion — but that his plans for the future will be rooted in continued growth and progress.
“If before this was a dream, becoming one of the best, now it’s a reality.”
“And with that reality comes responsibility.
“Before, I was cooking to reach this goal, now I cook knowing I have a standard to uphold.
“My responsibility now is to keep the level high every single day.
“There’s less room for mistakes, and only one direction to go — forward and upward. I want to keep improving, keep exploring, and keep pushing myself to grow, while working hard to live up to this title in the long term.
“My goal is to make sure that everyone who walks into my restaurant understands exactly why we earned this title.”
If you’d like to taste the food of the best pizzamaker in Oceania, La Calabrese Pizzeria is located at 78 Heatherton Road, Endeavour Hills.
