A Saturday night family tradition turned into another winning creation for Niko’s Bakery & Cafe, which earned “The Supreme” judges’ award during Owensboro Times Pizza Week for the second consecutive year.
Owners Matt and Jessica Weafer drew inspiration from the pizza they make at home with their children, creating the Saturday Night Special around a combination their family requests every week: pepperoni, black pepper, and Parmesan.
“My kids are very adamant. It needs to be pepperoni, needs to be black pepper and parmesan, and nothing else is allowed,” Matt said. “We jazzed it up a little bit for the competition, but that was it.”
Niko’s, located at 601 Emory Drive, entered a pizza featuring a light, fluffy, crispy crust topped with sun-dried tomato pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, freshly cracked black pepper, fresh herbs, and Parmesan crema.
Jessica said the appeal came down to executing a familiar favorite well.
“Classic done right is always a good choice,” she said.
The win follows Niko’s judges’ honor during the inaugural Pizza Week, when the bakery took the top award with its loaded Sicilian pizza.
“What I love about Niko’s entry is that it started with something personal — the pizza their family makes together on Saturday nights,” said Christy Chaney, co-owner of Owensboro Times and Pizza Week organizer. “Seeing businesses share those stories through their food is part of what makes Pizza Week special.”]
The Weafers said they were able to sample several other entries through exchanges with participating businesses, giving them an appreciation for the competition.
“That’s my favorite part — the community and the exchanging amongst the businesses and everybody kind of rallying behind each other,” Jessica said.
Second place in the judges’ award standings went to Rosie Helen’s Treats & More with their creation Love at First Bite. Located at 1212 East 18th Street, Rosie Helen’s entered an 8-inch sweet potato cookie pizza topped with apple butter, pumpkin-orange buttercream, caramelized shaved sweet potatoes, toasted marshmallows, buttery brown sugar crumble, and white chocolate shavings.
Third place went to The Oven with their pizza The Hot Mess. Located at 1012 East 4th Street, The Oven entered a pizza featuring pepperoni, bacon, Italian sausage, jalapeños, caramelized onions, banana peppers, mozzarella, and provolone. It was finished with a hot honey drizzle and a sprinkle of Parmesan.
“We appreciate every business that put time and thought into a creation for Pizza Week,” Chaney said. “From familiar pizza flavors to unexpected desserts, they gave people plenty of reasons to get out and try something new.”
For the Weafers, a second consecutive judges’ win also prompted a little discussion about what might come next.
“It means maybe we need to make pizzas more often,” Matt joked, with Jessica adding, “We need to add pizzeria onto our name.”
By The Owensboro Times