Good Morning America
Wrecktangle Pizza on Good Morning America
Wrecktangle Pizza and Red Wagon faced off in Good Morning America’s United States of Pizza challenge on Wednesday. The national morning news show is on a quest to find the best pizza in the country, so naturally they had to stop in Minneapolis. With a chance at a $10,000 cash prize and a golden pizza cutter, the competition is tough.
Representing Minnesota, the two pizza spots each brought something different to the table. Red Wagon Pizza chef and owner Peter Campbell prepared the Banh Mi, a pizza version of the beloved Vietnamese sandwich. With a sweet soy glazed pulled pork and fresh pickled veggies, the Banh Mi is an homage to Minnesota culture: There’s a vast southeast Asian community in the Twin Cities, and this pizza showcases some of those flavors.
Wrecktangle Pizza owner and chef Jeff Rogers went a different direction with their Detroit-style pies. Wrecktangle served their Very Nice Breakfast Pizza, which boasts layers of cheese, soft scrambled eggs, sausage gravy, and bacon jam, it’s something completely special. According to Jeff, they played to the timing of the show with their choice: it was filmed in the morning, so the obvious contender was their breakfast pizza.
The local judges included Young Joni’s Ann Kim (a famous pizza chef herself), Justin Sutherland of Handsome Hog, and KSTP anchor Chris Egert, who each had the tough job of selecting their favorite in the competition. At one point, Kim declared it was like choosing a favorite child.
Ultimately, the vote was unanimous. The winning title went to Jeff Rogers at Wrecktangle, for the breakfast pizza’s unique and decadent flavors. Now, Jeff is in New York City to compete against contenders from Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia for the $10,000 prize.
“I’m very very lucky,” Jeff said, “It’s an honor to be representing Minneapolis, Minnesota food, and my community,” he added. In terms of other pizzas he’s inspired by, he named tons of great restaurants like Baludo, Broder’s, Lola, Slice of New York, Good Times, and many more. Any way you slice it, Minnesota has a great pizza scene, and Wrecktangle makes it even better.
Update (2/17): Wrecktangle won the grand prize! Watch how it all went down.
