Leo Spizzirri loves cooking pizza, and he loves teaching. The Norridge native, who earned the title “Master Istruttore” (instructor) at an Italian culinary school, has combined those two loves by co-founding the North American Pizza & Culinary Academy at 1970 University Lane in Lisle.

Q: What’s your favorite kind of pizza? A: As one of less than a hundred master instructors in the world, I get the honor of eating people’s pizzas from all over the world. I’m more of a New York pizza guy. I really like that Sicilian-style pan pizza because my family’s from Calabria. It was something that was a regular in the kitchen at home.