Alessandra is Sicilian with an International outlook. In fact, she has lived, studied and worked outside of Sicily for the last 15 years. Firstly in Milan, then London and currently she lives in Lisbon, Portugal, where she is running her business.
She grew up in a very large family where food and cooking, and good ingredients are everything as well as making everything from scratch. She was not allowed to cook when she was younger but she learned by watching her mother and grandma making food in the kitchen from afar. And then later put this early learning into practice. She had been cooking for many years, but it was only after she got a corporate role, and what she considered was her dream job, that she realised that food and entrepreneurship was her real passion.
In 2014 she got her first toe in the food industry, first by doing volunteering work and setting up a Stokey Food Assembly - a weekly pop-up farmers market (featured in the Evening Standard, East London Magazine and many other local newspapers), then doing some private chef work for a Saudi Arabian prince, organising yoga and food retreats (both in London and Italy) and creating food experiences such as supper clubs and private dining under the brand name of Chuffed and Stuffed.
Alessandra realised that if she wanted to keep talking and making food for people she had to get back to her “roots” and explore more the pasta-making world. And so in January 2018 she left London to ENROLL in a Artisan Pasta Maker course in the northern part of Italy, between Padua and Bologna. There, she also created food experiences, made a film (still in post-production), worked with the Pasta Grannies project and developed recipes for restaurants, including Emilia Crafted Pasta and Consulting work for Leonetta Pasta
After the Italian experience, she got a job opportunity in Lisbon to help open the pasta restaurant as a Sfoglina (pasta artisan) and decided to move there. After its launch, she then kept doing what she loves by creating her own sell-out food experiences, pasta workshops and private dinners under the name of Santuario Cucina. She has appeared in local magazines such as TimeOut Magazine, Revista Prima and Visao.
Alessandra has been the mind behind all her events and projects for the past 8 years, which goes from small to larger groups up to 500 people. All her projects are bespoke as she brings her passion for authentic food and a love of people coupled with attention to detail that make for an unforgettable experience.
She is currently busy with the creation of online pasta classes offering her live pasta experiences in a digital format, pasta production, Consulting and much more.
