Pasquale Polito, co-founder of Forno Brisa and winner of the category ‘Sustainability’ at the Cook Awards
When was your passion for sourdough born, and what led you to enrol in the high apprenticeship course for pizza makers and bakers in Pollenzo?
The passion for sourdough was born at home, and once it started, it never left. I trusted Pollenzo because I found the hybrid training between theory and practice brilliant – in an academic setting, it was revolutionary. I had decided to turn my passion into a job, and my partner Davide, who dealt with communication, had decided to learn to do a job with his hands, one quite different to the pixels he used to work with and has made peace with now, communicating a project that feels completely his, in which he can allow himself the freedom to communicate without lying.
Forno Brisa is now a Bolognese institution. What do you think was (and continues to be) the key to its success?
Let’s say that Bologna is an open and biodiverse city, which loves innovation and breaking out of the norm. It is also the city of home bakers and sourdough dealers (communities started by Riccardo Astolfi and Antonella Scialdone). We are not yet a real institution; we are young and still have to do a lot for this city that gives us so much every day. It is simply gorgeous.
Today, more than ever before, sourdough baking is very common. What advice would you give to those who want to pursue a career in this sector?
We have written a book with the top ten tips for starting a startup in the sector. We can sum it up like this: look for a shared reason, find the right people, design a company with an impactful vision, think carefully about adapting in the place where you want to make it happen, listen to the public, don’t focus on your product and your tastes, organize a team and a method with shared tools, build a coherent brand, and design collectively.
Besides learning and refining a technique, what values did you learn in Pollenzo?
The sense of community. We do not simply do business for ourselves, but together with others, conceiving a harmonious ecosystem of man. Pollenzo is a catalyst for relationships and visions, an important hub in the network of artisans and thinkers of the future.
Today, you (and your team) return to the Food Lab as teachers. What does this collaboration give you?
First of all, we return with the desire to give back what we have learned and not with a righteous feeling of belonging in the chair. We have received so much, and we want to give so much more. Pollenzo, for us, is the university of the future. Hybrid, visionary, courageous, transdisciplinary and cross-cultural. Our dream is to influence the training of future artisans, and today we feel that we are at the appetizer.