In our October 2024 edition, we said we look forward to seeing what Fabrizio Busso does next.

The talented chef did not disappoint. He did two exciting things in 2025: First, he opened a pizzeria with business partner Giuseppe Cortinovis. Second, he won the title of Chef of the Year West at our first Calgary Pizza Summit!

When last we wrote about the creative Italian-born chef, runner-up in our 2024 West competition in Port Coquitlam, B.C., he was general manager at Erin Ireland’s To Live For bakery in Vancouver. He was starting a concept called The Base Food Inc. with Giuseppe Cortinovis (a former two-time competition winner). This spring they opened an exciting storefront location on Pender Street in Vancouver.

I talk with the very busy Busso via video call from a sunny Vancouver street after he has served the lunch crowd at Autentico. His face lights up every time he talks about telling stories through food, his obsession. We also talk about the challenges and rewards of running your own business and about his award-winning pizza, “La Coppa d’Oro” (“The Golden Cup”).

Entrepreneurship

One big challenge is marketing your business effectively. “The difficult thing is letting people know you exist,” Busso says. “Nowadays, without a storefront, people are just looking for third-party delivery. [The physical location] is good because everyone who tries our pizza is back.”

“If people know your name they can search and find you,” he says, noting that pizzerias on third-party apps must pay a premium to come up at the top of customer searches. This can be a disadvantage for independent pizza shops, he believes it’s crucial to advertise and promote your brand.

Their strategies range from old-school to community outreach to high-tech. They advertise using a sidewalk sandwich board to get the word out. They sell pizza at community events and cater parties and functions. They also created a What’s App group that is gaining momentum. Inspired by a recent conversation, Busso says they are looking into setting up at a local farmers market and collaborating with other farmers and vendors by using their fresh, local ingredients to make innovative pizzas.

For now, it’s just Busso and Cortinovis putting in very long days. “We are considering hiring a part-time trainee, but at this stage of our business, I want to still commit to quality products,” he says, referring to the intensive training required to be a pizza chef. “Our dough is so delicate.”

If they do hire staff, it will likely be with trained pizza chefs who work at night and could be available for a few hours during the daytime.

Busso says, “We make both kinds of pizza: we do a basic margherita at a price that’s affordable for people to pay, $14. It’s a hook and when they try it, they see how good it is. At the same time, we have a middle-of-the-road pizza at $18-22 dollars, then we scale to top price like “La Coppa d’Oro” (his winning pizza, see sidebar for details).

Another top-price pizza is “Vancouver Seasons” featuring cherry tomato confit, basil, arugula, mozzarella, barbacoa beef, poblano pepper, sweet corn, seasonal mushrooms, taleggio, nduja, provola affumicata and blue agave.

“We let the customers choose basic, middle or elevated: that’s our idea,” Busso says.

The menu is very streamlined: seven pizzas and plant-based versions of five of them, four dips and Sicilian cannoli. This strategy lets them use fresh ingredients without a lot of food waste. To keep things interesting, they introduce new pizzas from time to time.

They also have an ecommerce line of pizza crusts they sell under “The Base” brand.

Authenticity

For Busso, making pizza is about celebrating the food and not just serving it.

“The food feels and tastes different when you know more about it,” he says. “My personal goal is to try to provide a taste that you never tried before. I want to bring something I know and that customers don’t.”

Knowing he’d be busy making his pizza during the competition, he wanted to ensure it came out of the oven and went straight to the judges, he created a booklet describing his pizza to help the judges and other pizza operators watching the competition understand the nuances of the tastes he was going for.

In it he says the winning pizza is about tradition, curiosity, creativity and finding a way to make two worlds meet on one pizza. He describes three elements designed to make the pizza “balanced but unexpected.” These are temperature contrast, texture play and flavour architecture.

“If you know what you’re looking for, it’s easier to appreciate it and taste the uniqueness,” he says.

Busso, who was born and raised in the Piedmont region of Italy, moved to Canada in 2014 with his wife, Valentina. He recalls how an olive oil sommelier told him to expect to smell cherry tomato when tasting a particular oil. After being informed, he was able to smell the tomato. It was an a-ha moment.

“One thing that I’m still learning is always to plan well every step and have a strategy for the growth of your business,” Busso says. “When we decided to open, I was working at To Live For and Giuseppe was working full time at Nightingale. We thought that when we had enough money we’d quit and put our focus on the project.”

However, they didn’t anticipate the toll it would take dividing their time between their jobs and starting their own business. “Everything started to work when we dedicated ourselves fully to the business,” Busso says.

“My advice is, if you want to do it you should try it. You don’t want to regret not trying. If you’re really committed, plan well and work your strategy, step by step, I think it’s going to work.

“You have to communicate. When you’re in the kitchen, you’re great at making food. When you have a business, you have many other things going on to be concerned about. I don’t like social media, for example. But I have to do it.”

They focus on customers who want something lighter. “A lot of people want to try a healthy, nice pizza – that’s one of our targets,” he says.

We can’t wait to see what this chef and entrepreneur does in 2026!

The winning pizza: ‘La Coppa d’Oro’ (‘The Golden Cup’)

“This pizza is a sensory and symbolic bridge between my Italian roots from the Langhe in Piedmont and my Canadian present,” he writes in his official description. “Each element was selected to highlight seasonality, local terroir and craftsmanship paying homage to both lands with ingredients that speak to place and time. The dough respects Italian tradition, but the ingredients build a contemporary flavour story: bold, balanced and memorable.”

Dough:

• Long fermentation, high hydration and a mix of Red Fife flour (Canada) and a “00” flour made in B.C.
• Preferment: 14-hour biga, 75% total hydration

Toppings:

• Robiola cream (Piedmont, Italy): A smooth base of robiola cheese made from cow, sheep and goat milk, and lightly whipped. Delicate and creamy, it creates a luxurious foundation without overpowering.
• Coppa, or Capicollo (Piedmont): Thin slices added post-bake. Salty, savoury, with delicate marbling for adding depth and umami.
• Smoked cheddar (Alberta, Canada): A sharp, aged variety with natural applewood smoke. Adds a lingering richness and subtle burnt caramel notes.
• Glazed local peaches with hot honey (Alberta): Pan-glazed to enhance their juiciness and sweetness. The hot honey offers a mild kick and balances the fatty and smoky elements.
• Arugula pesto dots with bergamot EVOO (Italy and Canada): Airy pesto dots for a surprising texture contrast. Peppery, herbaceous and bright thanks to the bergamot-infused oil.
• Crushed nocciola (hazelnuts) gentile della Langa IGP (Piedmont): Lightly roasted and crumbled. A finishing touch of toasted nuttiness and texture.