Alessio Santarsiero is a young Italian pastry chef and a member of the team at Tiri Bakery & Caffè. His training and professional path revolve around naturally leavened doughs, conceived as the creative and technical core of his pastry-making.
Working within the team at Tiri Bakery & Caffè in Potenza, Alessio Santarsiero has shaped his craft around large, naturally leavened goods and an ongoing study of cocoa and chocolate. In 2025 he won the Belcolade Award (a competition run in collaboration with AMPI’s young section) at SIGEP with the cake Cocoa Ring.
His professional story is built on a solid technical base: hospitality-school studies followed by targeted specialization, including training at I Cook You’s Pastry Academy in Caserta, a professional school active since 2010.
Years in the lab—through experiences in Italy and abroad—became, above all, an exercise in method: mixing and dough management, reading fermentation, and fine-tuning structure and texture. Joining the Tiri group placed him in an environment where sourdough starter is a daily signature and a key ingredient across coffee bar, bakery, and production lines.
His first major public recognition came at SIGEP: on January 21, 2025, he won the sixth edition of the Belcolade Award, a competition dedicated to under-35 pastry talents, with Cocoa Ring—a layered composition built on contrasts (a dark-chocolate bavarois made with Vietnam 73% single-origin couverture, a milk-and-coffee crémeux, a fruit component, and a cocoa-soaked insert). The jury included, among others, Santi Palazzolo (chair), Sebastiano Caridi, and Luca Montersino (Belcolade brand ambassador), and the prize was organized in collaboration with Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani (AMPI), young section.
This trajectory also extends into frozen desserts, with a consistent idea: translating the language of leavened pastry into gelato. His flavor “Panettone All Year Round” (panettone custard, orange sauce, candied raisins, and almond crumble) was selected among finalists connected to the Gelato Festival World Masters and mentioned among the contenders for the Italian final tied to SIGEP 2026.
His wish to keep traveling—stated as a necessity for growth—finds a concrete echo after the 2025 win: in the post-award story he referred to a personal dream (“Going to Mexico is a dream come true for me”) and thanked Vincenzo Tiri for support during preparation. It’s a path that holds together technique and curiosity: from cocoa sourcing to the geometry of leavened doughs, with the belief that every product—from baked pastry to gelato—should stand on aromatic clarity, balance, and precise control of texture.
