Meet Alessandra Siniscalco Troisi of Cafe Piazza Dolce in Winchester

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alessandra Siniscalco Troisi.

Alessandra, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Well you must know one thing about me, I am stubborn, I have always been stubborn and I don’t image I will change any time soon, ( my husband will concur) when I was a senior in high school, everyone was picking what colleges to apply for, and discussing majors and future dreams and all the usual senior buzz, and it wasn’t until I was applying for my first, ( and would be only school ) that something just sparked.

Growing up as a first generation American came with this innate sense of “I can be whatever I want to be”. My parents came from Italy in their teens, with their parents who had come from rural living in a farm village in Italy and came to America for work to give their kids a better future. My parents had done the same for my siblings and I, they started a business and they made many sacrifices so that we could have such opportunities.

My college essay for Suffolk University had two questions that would change my life, they were, ” Who do you most admire?” and ” What is your dream”. And it just came to me. My father had often talked about his uncle in Milano in which he worked for in his little Cafe during his formidable years, and his passion about the industry and his experiences stuck with me.

Who do I admire? My father. What are my dreams? I am going to open an Italian restaurant. As any entrepreneur can tell you, after an idea is implanted into the brain, it is ALL you think about! I didn’t even have the patience to wait until graduation, and in 2005 as a Sophomore at Suffolk Cafe Piazza Dolce was born.

13 years Later, the business has grown, the reputation has grown, our staff, our menu and our hearts have all grown to absolutely love this business and our town. There have been so many exciting stories and milestones we have experienced but I won’t bore you with them all here.

But as a first generation American, first college graduate in the family, Lady chef in a predominantly male industry, I’ll just say there is a lot to talk about!. We are very excited to release our NEW MENU in March and look forward to the challenges the next 13+ years will bring!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh Yes! Like Butter! …. (insert eye roll here) Every business has struggles, I like to see them as growing pains! My mantra continues to be “Nothing good comes easy” so anytime we hit a bump in the road, I have learned to expect something good through the struggle.

Cafe Piazza Dolce – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are an upscale Trattoria. We focus on making GOOD food, from scratch, using LOCAL ingredients. We give an authentic representation of an upscale Italian trattoria in 2018 era Italy.

We are certainly not your typical spaghetti and meatball with marinara sauce Italian restaurant. (I can’t even say MARINARA without my mouth hurting.) I prefer the more Neapolitan familiar a sugo pummarola. We play music of today, serve food of today, in a modern yet traditional setting.

I am very proud that we have stuck with our vision, it is very easy to give in to what people want to see for your business, and it’s important to do that, but without losing your identity.

I love being inspired, may it be a feeling or a flavor, a smell, or a sound, I bring all of it to Cafe Piazza Dolce.

Imagine drinking a house infused Blood Orange Negroni, sitting on the all-season gazebo watching the passersby, the Italian videos on the TV listening to Francesca Gabbani on the radio, and enjoying “n’a bellu piatt’e pasta” home made fresh pasta with a from scratch all organic hand pressed traditional vine ripe tomato sauce.

These days, you need to explain this is homemade, from scratch, with love and hundreds of years of ancestry in each dish. But to us, it’s just how we were raised,

This is our vision for Cafe Piazza Dolce and this is what we want out guests to fully immerse themselves in when they come through outdoors.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
When I see the look on the face of a customer after one bite. The pure enjoyment and satisfaction of enjoying something you know is real. Or perhaps the first time a customer tries a wood fired pizzetta, and experiences all the flavors that come with an ancient cooking method.

My husband is Italian but did not come from a traditional Italian background. When we first met, he hated tomatoes, he hated olives, he didn’t like to try anything.

One bite of my tomato salad and it was literally love at first bite. One taste of our pappardelle Bolognese and I think that is when he proposed! He eats everything now. Everything!

Contact Info:

• Address: Cafe Piazza Dolce
  831 Main Street
  Winchester, MA 01890
• Website: www.cafepiazzadolce.com
• Phone: 7818386092
• Email: info@cafepiazzadolce,com

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