Cristina
Smith
Cristina was born in Mexico and raised in the US. Her love for food started at a young age, while cooking in the kitchen with her mom.
Cristina’s first job was at a well known bay area pizzeria in 2005. This is also where she met her husband Lars. Over the years she worked for national chains, local restaurant groups, independently owned restaurants, as well as a Michelin starred restaurant. After years in the restaurant industry Cristina started to feel burnt out. She decided to leave the restaurant industry and began working for a local strawberry grower and distributor. This job harnessed a deeper passion and respect for food and where it comes from.
Cristina is a co-owner of the State of Mind Hospitality Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. While Cristina’s love for food and cooking runs deep, her day to day responsibilities focus more on the financial and HR needs of the restaurants. Wanting to be more involved in the kitchen Cristina decided to learn how to make pizza. And in 2019 she participated in her first pizza competition. Competing has allowed Cristina to harness her creativity in and out of the kitchen. Wanting to further her knowledge Cristina decided to learn how to make pizza alla pala, which she learned from her husband and Massimiliano Saieva. Cristina love for pizza making continues to grow, she plans to continue expanding her pizza making skills and hopes to pass some of these skills to her kids.
Accomplishments:
2022 Pizza and Pasta North East Non-Traditional Division 1st Place and best Roman entry
2023 International Pizza Challenge Non-Traditional Division 3rd place in Southwest
2023 World Pizza Championship, Parma Italy placed 5th overall, 5th place Pizza alla Pala and top Mexican score
www.stateofmindpublichouse.com
State of Mind Public House
101 Plaza N,
Los Altos, CA 94022
3710 Florence St,
Redwood City, CA 94063
State of Mind Slice House
3850 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94306
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