William Mooney with the dessert pizza he designed, which is
now on the menu of The Bay Cafe in Macandrew Bay, Dunedin.
Photo by Steven Jaquiery.
When given the chance to design an ultimate pizza,
William Mooney shunned traditional toppings and went straight
to banana, chocolate and marshmallows.
The 5-year-old's culinary creation is now on the menu of The
Bay Cafe, in Macandrew Bay, after he beat 29 others in a
pizza design competition.
Cafe owner Chris Smith said he approached Macandrew Bay
School about the competition and pupils were asked to dream
up a pizza topping using ingredients of their choice and
colour in a picture.
"The school loved it," he said.
While there were a few "curly" toppings, three pizzas were
chosen to go on the cafe's menu for four weeks.
William's dessert pizza, a chicken, bacon, apricot and cream
cheese pizza and a caramelised onion, steak, broccoli and
cashew pizza went head-to-head for the chance to go on the
menu permanently.
The competition finished last Saturday night and it was only
a "last-minute phone order which tipped it in William's
favour", Mr Smith said.
"It was very close. It was amazing how everyone got behind
it."
William said his "choconana pizza" was easy to create
"because I like pizza".
His class will get a pizza lunch next term and his family
will get two free pizzas a week for one month from the cafe.
Though unsure whether this pegged William for a career in the
food industry, his father, Richard, said William's mother was
"a bit of a foodie" and he enjoyed pulling a chair up to the
kitchen bench to help with food preparation.
- ellie.constantine@odt.co.nz
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.