Walk into the Dough Show near UCF and you'll be greeted by a mesmerizing performance from Alexandrian pastry maestro Ahmed Hamam. The man is the Egyptian equivalent of a pizzaiolo — not of pizza dough, mind you, but of delicate feteer meshaltet, or feteer, as it's commonly known. Hamam works, stretches and pounds the gossamer-thin dough before theatrically swirling the pastry disc around his head numerous times, all the while twirling in circular fashion himself. And then, like all shows, this dough show comes to an end: It's slammed back onto the quartz counter, given a few open-handed slaps, then filled with toppings like house-brined and cured pastrami and Kiri cheese before being folded, crimped, inverted and placed into a 600-degree oven for a few minutes until baked through. Encores are welcomed.

thedoughshowfl.com

1st: Prato, prato-wp.com

2nd: Maxine's on Shine, maxinesonshine.com

3rd: The Strand, strandorlando.com

2nd: Patrick Story, Hollerbach's German Restaurant, hollerbachs.com

3rd: Fabiano Olmo, Maxine's on Shine, facebook.com/chef.fabiano.olmo

2nd: Prato, prato-wp.com

3rd: Gnarly Barley, thegnarlybarley.com

2nd: Se7en Bites, se7enbites.com

3rd: The Glass Knife, theglassknife.com

2nd: Pig Floyd's Urban BBQ, pigfloyds.com

3rd: Smoke and Donuts, smokeanddonuts.com

2nd: Island Thyme Caribbean Grille, islandthymegrille.com

3rd: Singh's Roti Shop, instagram.com/singhsrotishopfl

2nd: Peter's Kitchen China Bistro, peterskitchencb.business.site

3rd: Taste of Chengdu, tasteofchengdufl.com

2nd: Lineage Coffee Roasting, lineageroasting.com

3rd: Drunken Monkey Coffee Bar, drunkenmonkeyorders.com

2nd: Linda's Winter Park Diner (closed), winterparkdiner.com

3rd: Shakers American Café, shakerscafe.com