He’s a twirling dervish — and wants a slice of history.
Prize-winning pizza man Bruno DiFabio hopes to set the world record for fastest pie making next month when he challenges the current mark of 28 seconds for five pizzas.
“I’ve done 25 seconds in practice,” says DiFabio, 43, a Yonkers native who honed his skills in the pizzerias of Manhattan and now owns restaurants nationwide.
“But it’s different when there’s an official watching you,” he says.
To set the record, he’ll have to stretch five 10-ounce dough balls into neat circles that fully cover 12-inch pizza screens.
“No metal showing and you can’t have any holes,” says DiFabio, who consistently rates among the five fastest at the World Pizza Championship and also won the top prize for best pizza at an international culinary competition in Paris in November.
He hopes to beat his “arch rival and nemesis” Brian Edler, an owner of four Domino’s franchises in Ohio who set the current record in 2004 and made history in 2010 by churning out 206 pizzas in an hour — the only speed mark that Guinness recognizes.
DiFabio’s edge is his “New York hand-slap,” a quick, back-and-forth flipping of dough, which gives him a read on its elasticity.
“Once I slap a few times, I go into the pulling part, then I’m down on the board,” he says. “I lay it down like a blanket on a bed.”
In addition to quick dough stretching, he limits his use of the sauce ladle to one dip and grabs all the cheese he needs in a single handful.
“It’s about cutting down on movements,” he says.
A judge will be on hand at Harry’s Italian Pizza Bar in Battery Park City and DiFabio hopes to have an official from Guinness there as well.
He prides himself on speed, which is more than just a parlor trick. It’s vital to keeping up with orders in a crowded restaurant, he says.
“You can’t believe how nerve-wracking it can be as tickets pile up on you,” DiFabio says. “It helps to have a lot of experience. In my lifetime, I’ve made close to a million pizzas.”
He began his career at age 12, working with his grandfather, Angelo, at his restaurant, Tony’s Italian Kitchen, on West 79th Street, then the biggest restaurant on the Upper West Side.
He currently has three pizza joints in Westchester but none in the city after his downtown venture, 900 Degrees, closed last year.
“I served myself a big piece of humble pie,” he says.
But he’s still among the upper crust in the trade, having mastered three styles: classic New York, Neapolitan and Romano — and will happily explain the nuisances of flour protein and butter fat in cheese.
“I’ve dedicated myself to the science,” he says.
Chef Bruno DiFabio’s tips for making five pizzas in 25 seconds:
* Get dough to room temperature — it’s easier to stretch.
* Use an 8-ounce ladle; dip it only once.
* Do only eight turns with the sauce.
* Grab all the cheese you’ll need — 16 ounces — in one handful.
By BRAD HAMILTON
brad.hamilton@nypost.com
