Alexandra Castro, a pizza chef, instructor and caterer, is something of a prodigy. She was just 23 when she built her first pizzeria, practically from the ground up, in her native Colombia. Now at 30, she’s teaching the craft to future pizzaioli from her home base in Stamford, Connecticut, publishing pizza-making ebooks at her website, PizzaWithAle, and prepping to share her wealth of knowledge in two educational sessions at PMQ’s upcoming Pizza Power Forum in Atlanta: “Perfecting Your Dough: Tips and Tricks” and “Pizza and Beyond: Developing a Menu That Really Performs.”
It hasn’t been a long journey, necessarily, but it has been quite a ride thus far, taking her from her native Buga, Colombia—a city of about 125,000 people in the Andes—to New York, Montreal and back to the States again. Along the way, she has learned the science and the art of pizza, earning multiple certifications as well as a bachelor’s degree in advertising to sharpen her business and marketing skills.
She’s fascinated by the simplicity of pizza’s building blocks—and the rich and nuanced flavors that can arise from that deceptively unassuming foundation, particularly in the Neapolitan style. “Something that really captured my attention was the fact that, from only flour, water, salt and a sourdough starter, you’re able to create this very complex product,” Castro said. “Just four simple ingredients, and you get this amazing pizza and bread.”
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Although she hails from an exotic locale, Castro’s experiences would feel familiar to any American (or Italian) who discovered and fell in love with pizza in their youth. First culinary school, then an internship at the Holy Water Ale Cafe, and, later, her own restaurant, called Pizzapolis, in Buga. And that was just the beginning for this breakout talent.
Pizzapolis remains a point of pride—and a source of fond memories—for Castro. “We imported everything—the oven, the mixer, the POS, proofing boxes,” she recalls. “When it came to buying things like furniture, we had a really small budget. I made a lot of things myself, and we bought a lot of other things secondhand and refurbished them, like the lamps. It was very pretty. We put in a lot of effort, and it turned out great.”
A college education—something her father had always stressed—came in handy, too. In fact, Castro was a fulltime student while she ran Pizzapolis. “So now I had, of course, the skill of making the product, and I also had this mindset of business and marketing. So that was very important. I was able to take charge of major parts of the operation. I was doing everything. It was very cool, very interesting. I was very young, and I was hiring, like, young staff. I tried to hire only women.”
That was around 2017. Pizzapolis was still going strong three years later when Castro, overworked and in need of a break, stepped away to spend a year in New York. Of course, you know what happened next: the pandemic. Like so many pizzerias around the world, Pizzapolis couldn’t survive on delivery alone. Castro had to close her beautiful Latin America pizzeria for good, long before she was ready.
Fortunately, North America was ready for her.
‘If Someone Else Can Do It, I Can Do It‘
Here in the States, Castro soon found herself working the pizza and pastry station—among others—at The Inn at Pound Ridge in Pound Ridge, New York, under acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. “I was able to learn a lot of the things that you do in a commercial kitchen at that scale, because we were handling more than 300 covers a day, so a lot of people, a lot of volume,” she remembers. “But at the same time, you have to maintain this certain level of perfection and technique. It was a lot of organization and discipline.”
She then added the role of head chef at Magpie in Montreal to her resume. Magpie is considered one of that city’s best spots for artisanal, wood-fired pizza. And Castro was thrown into the fire, so to speak—Magpie’s former chef was already gone when she started. Adding to the challenge: She’d never worked with a wood-fired oven before. “This is the thing about me,” she said. “I don’t feel intimidated by these opportunities most of the time. I mean, I do get scared, but I’m not going to say no just because I don’t know [how to do something]. I always think, if someone else can do it, I can do it.”
The owners put their full trust in Castro, she says, “and I made it work. I implemented all my systems and processes. And the improvement was huge. You were able to see it in everything, the product, the system itself, the kitchen. I was able to change the menu—I changed everything. It was really, really cool. The only problem was that I didn’t speak French, unfortunately. If I wanted to stay there long-term, I needed to learn French. But I didn’t have time to say, oh, OK, I’m going to spend three hours a day learning French, because I was in the restaurant all day.”
Today, Castro lives and works in Stamford, Connecticut, catering private events and teaching aspiring pizzaioli and home chefs the wild and wonderful ways of pizza. She’s a chef instructor at both Hudson Table and Sur La Table. And she’s so good at it, Alessio Lacco, master pizzaiolo, founder of Atlanta Pizza Truck and director of the AVPN School-Atlanta, has enlisted her to help teach a bilingual course in Neapolitan pizza making, to be held September 2-3 in Atlanta, leading up to the Pizza Power Forum that same week. (Click the link below for more info.)
Related: Three master pizzaioli offer Neapolitan pizza-making course in Atlanta Sept. 2-3
Lacco knows Castro’s skillset better than most since he personally certified her in the rarefied art of Neapolitan pizza. He sees her as a “rising star in the pizza community.”
“What I admire most about Alexandra is her relentless drive to learn and constantly improve,” Lacco said. “When she came to get certified in Neapolitan pizza, she was incredibly attentive and meticulous in taking notes. Her greatest strengths are in dough making and stretching, which is undoubtedly enhanced by her background in pastry. This experience also fuels her creativity in designing pizza toppings and perfecting her dough-making skills.”
Like any good educator, Castro also keeps learning, Lacco added. After earning her AVPN certification, she went on to take a Roman-style course with another pizza master, Massimiliano Saieva, in New York City. “Recently, I discovered she took a course in Bogotá, Colombia, with my dear friend Enrico Baffoni,” Lacco said. “This shows how interconnected the pizza world is and how our paths were destined to cross.”
Castro’s private workshops have proven so popular, she hopes to start offering them on a monthly basis soon. She also teaches online pizza courses in Spanish. “Those are more focused on people who are either pizza makers that want to improve their skills or knowledge, or people looking to maybe open a pizza business or do pop-ups,” she said.
Teaching the Complexities
Teaching pizza skills to a broad cross-section of students—not all them from the Northeast—requires a depth of knowledge rare in someone as young as Castro. “The AVPN will tell you, don’t use the fridge to ferment your dough. But I have people asking me, ‘Hey, Ale, I live in Puerto Rico, and it’s super hot. What do I do?’ So sometimes it’s about theory versus practice.”
Others are just plain afraid of their dough, she adds. “They feel like it’s too sticky or too liquid. I tell them, ‘Hey, it’s like a baby, OK?’ Because if you’re scared of the dough, you won’t even be able to knead the dough, because everything gets super sticky. And then people think that if the dough is super sticky, they need to start adding flour and more flour and more flour, which is no good, because you’re going to unbalance your dough. It’s about understanding the dough—what’s happening with it. If it’s too sticky, OK, let it rest, and then we’ll start working the dough again.”
She also wants her students to understand that pizza-making isn’t just about following a recipe. “They’re used to only learning a recipe, but they need to learn the process behind the technique, which is going to really help us understand what’s happening throughout the process and how to fix problems,” she points out. “I try to get them thinking [in terms of] processes. I like to break down every process that’s happening so they can follow the technique and use it to create more than just pizza. A lot of people try to follow a recipe and it’s not successful, because, yeah, you have a recipe, but there are other things that go into the technique. If you don’t know them, you’re not going to succeed.”
Castro emphasizes theory and the science underlying dough-making. “Even for the recreational classes, I go into the science a little bit at least. I talk with them about the gluten, fermentation, maturation, so they’ll understand.”
Leading the Way for Latinos
As a Latina pizza maker, Castro is helping to inspire and shape the careers of other Latinos, including women, getting into the business. That’s vital to the pizza industry’s future because, according to the National Restaurant Association, Hispanics now comprise 27% of the U.S. restaurant workforce, and restaurants employ more Hispanic managers than any other industry—one-fifth of restaurant managers and supervisors are Hispanic.
That’s why Sofia Arango, founder of the Latinos en Pizza nonprofit, was delighted to welcome Castro, a close friend, to her organization. “Alexandra brings a unique blend of talent and energy to the Latina pizza movement,” Arango said. “Her confidence and go-getter attitude make her a natural leader, while her engaging and approachable nature ensures she connects well with others in the industry. As a proactive individual brimming with ideas, she consistently supports other women, fostering a collaborative and empowering environment.”
Related: From CPK to 50 Top Pizza Restaurant: Juan Perez’s Journey
“Looking ahead, I see a bright future for Alexandra,” Arango added. “Her multifaceted talents and supportive spirit position her to continue making significant contributions, not only in pizza but in any venture she pursues. She’s set to become a major influencer and a driving force in the industry, inspiring many along the way.”
And that’s fine with Castro because she knows, better than most, the advantages that Latinos bring to the workplace. “I’ve worked with so many Latinos in kitchens,” she said. “When I was in Montreal, I hired only Latinos because I knew how capable they were and how hard they work. And even though it’s an underpaid job, Latinos are just amazing to work with. They bring a different atmosphere to the workplace. Because most of the time we’re always happy and trying to do the best we can. So that’s why I always, always, always, always want to work with Latinos. You can see the difference when a Latino is working in your restaurant because they work hard.”
Alexandra Castro will be a featured speaker at two educational sessions offered at PMQ’s upcoming Pizza Power Forum, taking place September 4-5 in Atlanta.
Session: Perfecting Your Dough: Tips and Tricks
Additional speakers: Wilhelm Rodriguez, owner, Papa’s Pizza; Alessio Lacco, co-owner, Atlanta Pizza Truck; Louise Joseph, owner, Dough Girls Pizza
Session: Pizza and Beyond: Developing a Menu That Really Performs
Additional speakers: Zane Hunt, co-founder, Via 313; Alex Koons, owner, Hot Tongue Pizza; and Khanh Nguyen, founder and CEO, Zalat Pizza
