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OLMSTEDVILLE — It took more than luck for the
owners of the Lucky Leprechaun when it came to a pizza
competition.
Scott and Theresa Morrison of Olmstedville have been
running the Lucky Leprechaun restaurant since November
of 2004. Being of Irish descent, the Morrison’s named
the restaurant the Lucky Leprechaun to reflect the Irish
heritage of the Minerva area. “When I was in high
school, Minerva was the Fighting Irish,” Scott said.
The school has merged its sports program with Newcomb
and the teams are now known as the Mountaineers.
 The Morrison’s have a huge menu for just about any
appetite, offering what they call eclectic family
dining. The menu includes many unique pizzas, and they
were invited last spring to enter the Northeast Pizza
Show competition in Atlantic City.
“They
said we could enter up to three pizzas that were on our
menu,” Theresa said. They chose their surf and
turf pizza that features filet mignon and lobster; their
chicken cordon bleu, with Alfredo sauce, grilled
chicken, ham, swiss and mozzarella cheese and their
little Italy garden pizza with sun dried tomatoes,
artichokes, and more with light cheese, which was
designed for vegans.
Competing with such big pizza houses like Goodfella’s in
Brooklyn, large chains from Rhode Island, Staten Island
and all over the Northeast, the Lucky Leprechaun took
three of the top 10 spots.
“Our surf and turf came in fifth,” Scott said. “Little
Italy came in seventh and the chicken cordon bleu was
10th.”
Scott said there were six judges who had very specific
criteria to use for judging. They had to check crust,
sauce, presentation and many other categories.
“You could tell when they took more than one bite that
they really liked a pizza,” Scott said. “They took two
or three bites of ours.”
The top four pizzas go on to a re-bake for the
championship. Theresa said their surf and turf pizza
missed the top four by two - 1,000ths of a point.
While they were there, several pizza officials
encouraged them to enter their surf and turf in the
Pizza Festival, a national competition for people who
have never won a pizza competition.
“It’s a little different,” Scott said. “You submit your
full recipe and they make your pizza and it is judged on
raw ingredients, the recipe, preparation and taste.”
Of all the competitors, the top 30 are chosen for a
bake-off, and after that happens, the top four winners
are given an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas in March
of 2007 for the finals.
“I think we have a pretty good chance of making the top
four,” Theresa said. “The woman with Pizza Today,
(sponsors of the Atlantic City competition) strongly
encouraged us to enter and to come back next year.”
Each of the top four winners receives $750 and the one
winner receives a medal, a plaque, an article in the
industry magazine, Pizza Today and $2,500.
“I’m confident,” Theresa said. “A lot of people in the
business were very complimentary about our pizzas.”
By Nancy O’Brien
nancy@denpubs.com
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