Gaithersburg grad rises to pizza-making glory

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Gaithersburg grad rises to pizza-making glory

by Meghan Tierney | Staff Writer

E-mail this article \ Print this article

Laurie DeWittâ„The Gazette

Dennis Tran of Silver Spring demonstrates his skills before heading to Michigan to try to defend his title at Domino's Pizza World's Fastest Pizza Maker competition.

In less than the time it takes to change a light bulb, Dennis Tran of Silver Spring can make a large one-topping pizza.

Tran, an area supervisor for Domino's Pizza franchise Team Washington Inc., has dominated the company's World's Fastest Pizza Maker competition for the last two years, and was in Ann Arbor, Mich., Tuesday to defend his title.

Tran, a Silver Spring resident originally from Gaithersburg, took home the 2006 title by making three large one-topping pizzas in 55 seconds. He topped himself - and everybody else - in 2007 with a record-setting time of 49.1 seconds, about 16 seconds per pizza. He won $10,000 and a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe from his boss.

"Honestly, I was faster 10 years ago than I am now," Tran, 32, said. He has competed in the annual contest for 15 years.

Tran, a 1994 graduate of Gaithersburg High School, began working at Domino's when he was 14 as a promoter. He entered the company's assistant manager program when he was 19 and became the youngest manager of Team Washington's 57 Domino's locations at the time. He kept moving up in the company and was promoted to the franchise's No. 1 store, located near the White House, where he earned $100,000 a year.

Tran now oversees the franchise's nine Montgomery County locations, which include stores in Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Silver Spring and Wheaton.

Tran was one of 18 employees selected by Domino's to compete in the 26th annual competition, which was held on Tuesday after The Gazette's deadline. The entrants were judged for speed and quality - if the cheese or sauce is not applied correctly, the competitor must start over.

"It's not about just being fast," 22-year-old Marco Paci of Bethesda, manager of Domino's Silver Spring store on Georgia Avenue, said last week as he watched Tran stretch out dough. Paci, who has worked for Domino's for three years, said it takes him 35-40 seconds to make a pizza. "I tried out [for the competition] last year but I didn't really get where I needed to be," he said.

Tran, who is getting married in two months, usually practices an hour a day in the three days before the competition, but his skills stay fresh just doing his day-to-day job, which includes helping make pizzas.