The first time pizzaiola Leah Scurto competed at the World Pizza Championship in Italy, a group of Italian men asked her to take their picture with the victorious, predominantly-male United States Pizza Team. Her team.
“It was wild,” says Scurto, recalling the snub. “I was wearing my chef’s coat, so they knew I was part of the team. There’s a lot of machismo in the pizza industry. It’s gotten much better, but back then, there just weren’t that many of us.”
That was 2014, when Scurto was the executive chef of Santa Cruz-based Pizza My Heart and helped oversee its expansion from two to 24 restaurants across the Bay Area. In the years to come, she would rack up multiple awards, including first place at the U.S. Pizza Cup in 2018 for her Mush-A-Roni, a pan pizza with red sauce, pepperoni, cremini mushrooms, shaved parmesan and basil.
Today, Scurto has appeared on Hulu’s “Best in Dough” pizza competition and is the owner of PizzaLeah, a Windsor pizzeria known for crisp New York-style crusts and fresh, Sonoma-centric ingredients. She is part of a wave of Bay Area women who are not only making world-class pies — think slow-proofed, hand-stretched dough and top-notch ingredients — but running their own pizzerias. Some, like Scurto and Laura Meyer, a Tony’s Pizza Napoletana alum about to open her Pizzeria de Laura in Berkeley, have been working in the industry since high school. Others, like Kira Zabrowski of Pleasanton’s Much Ado About Pizza and Laura Seymour of San Francisco’s DamnFine Pizza, are self-taught and came to dough-slinging as a second career.
On the competitive circuit and working with grassroots organizations such as New Jersey-based Women in Pizza — which started in 2019 to support and promote the accomplishments of female pizza makers — they’re paving the way for the next generation of highly-visible pizzaiole.
“We’re trying to normalize the sight of women in the pizza industry,” says Women in Pizza founder Alexandra Mortati, a fourth generation importer of Italian flour and other pizza essentials. “Some of these women have soaked in so much knowledge, taught others how to make pizza and won international competitions. Now they’re ready to make their move.”
She’s referring to women like Meyer, a three-time World Pizza Champion who was Tony Gemignani’s right hand at his North Beach restaurant. Before leaving this year to start her own restaurant, the Hayward native served as head chef, ran its International Pizza School and traveled the globe with Gemignani.
“There aren’t many pizzaioli in the world that have the talent and determination like Laura has,” Gemignani says. “Her commitment to excellence far exceeds most.”
Gemignani was there in 2013, when Meyer took first place for pan pizza at the World Pizza Championship in Italy. At the time, she was 24 and the only woman — and American — ever to do so. She was also the only victor who didn’t leave with a trophy that day. The judges told her she was getting a small oven from a sponsor instead, even though Gemignani shot back that it had never been done that way.
“I remember there were very few people cheering for me,” says Meyer, now 33. “They just didn’t want to accept that a woman had won.”
A year later, Meyer finally got her trophy in the mail. It will no doubt find a prominent perch at Pizzeria de Laura, which is set to open in February. Meyer will draw on her 17 years of experience to create a menu of New York, Sicilian and Detroit-style pizzas made with dough that is slow-fermented for up to 72 hours and features California tomatoes and Wisconsin cheese, often referred to as the Cadillac of cheese. You’ll find salads, appetizers and a full bar program there, too.
“I’m one of the fortunate females in this industry,” Meyer says. “I stepped into a teaching role and management role at a pretty young age and had to earn the respect of the men in my kitchen. My style was to observe, listen, be the best and then teach them how to be the best.”
Actress and former high school teacher Kira Zabrowski of Pleasanton’s Much Ado About Pizza didn’t get into ownership or competition until recently. Before the pandemic hit, Zabrowski had been teaching theater and English in the East Bay for 25 years. In 2020, the lifelong baker found a sourdough obsession. And then she found pizza. Or, as she says, it found her.
“I read everything. I watched YouTube videos. I did workshops,” Zabrowski says. “And then I told my husband, ‘Let’s open a pizzeria.’”
Together with her husband, Mark, she started selling Bard-themed pies with names like Taming of the Chew and Henry the “8” in and around Livermore wine country. In June, the couple opened their carry out-only brick and mortar, a pizza parlor that reminds them of the Shakey’s hangouts of their youth. They specialize in a sourdough crust that marries New York-crispy with the fluffiness of a Neapolitan, topped with a five-cheese blend.
“I actually had no idea there were so few women in the industry until I started going to trade shows and competing,” Zabrowski says. “A woman can make a pizza just as a good as a man. Maybe even better.”
In March, Zabrowski competed at the International Pizza Challenge in Las Vegas as a member of the U.S. Pizza Team, and took second place in the Southwest Traditional Division. And she scored fourth in the world with her veggie-forward Peaseblossom pizza, which she topped with Point Reyes TomaTruffle, sweet white onions, porcini mushrooms, black garlic, shallots and more.
She believes we’re in the midst of a pizza renaissance — and she’s not referring to styles or innovations. “I feel there’s an openness and welcoming in the industry,” she says. “It’s always going to be a boys’ club. But women are starting to rise.”
Mexican-American Cristina Aceves Smith, co-owner of State of Mind Public House and Pizzeria, shares the sentiment. Smith handles the business side of operations at the Los Altos restaurant she opened with her chef husband, Lars, in 2018, and their follow-up slice house in Palo Alto. Most of her restaurant career has been spent as a server or manager, but, like Scurto, Smith got her start at Pizza My Heart — and still knows her way around a pie.
Last week, as a member of the U.S. Pizza Team, she took first place in the Non-Traditional Division at the Pizza & Pasta Northeast competition in Atlantic City. It was her first win.
“It’s still a bit of a shock,” says Smith, who made a Roman-style Pizza alla Pala with pumpkin sauce, fresh mozzarella, walnuts and chicories marinated in a hot honey vinaigrette.
Next month, the pizza power couple is opening their third State of Mind. The Redwood City spot will offer fried chicken sandwiches in addition to their style of California-focused pizzas.
Smith says she feels fortunate that she hasn’t faced the gender discrimination that some of her counterparts have experienced in the pizza world. She says their tireless work and visibility will continue to foster change.
“They’ve helped grow other peoples’ businesses and made a name for themselves,” she says. “Women are being taken more seriously in the kitchen in general, so owning their own concepts and opening their own pizzerias just makes sense.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com