Pizza School at Miami's Mister 01: Flour, Fire and a whole lot of Fun.
The secrets to making pizza revealed!
As a very amateur cook and foodie, I’ve tackled my fair share of culinary experiments. I’ve had my wins (I once cooked pork in milk to great and uncurdled acclaim) and my failures (How was I to know I was using cornstarch and not flour in those cupcakes?).
I’ve always wanted to make a decent pizza. And I mean real pizza – the kind with a perfect balance of crisp and char in the crust, as well as a chewy edge. And toppings that don’t turn the whole thing into a soggy mess. (Been there, done that, not a good thing.)
So, when I learned about the pizza-making class at Mister 01, a restaurant famous for its deliciously creative pies and perfect crusts, I went for it. And took some friends. It was a party!
The School Is Cool!
It’s in front of the Mister 01 restaurant in a part of Miami known as Wynwood. The classroom could have been hidden in the back of the restaurant or in a windowless room somewhere. But no. The classroom is in the front of the restaurant, with windows facing the street and the restaurant’s entrance. While our skills might not have deserved to be front and center, it was still fun to see and be seen as we made the dough (from scratch), kneaded it, stretched it, spun it, topped it, baked it and ate it.
Our leaders, Chef Alvin and Oriana, made the whole experience instructive and a ton of fun.
It starts with the flour.
I always assumed making pizza dough was simple—mix together flour, water, yeast, salt, knead it a bit, and done. And yet! As anyone who has ever worked with dough well knows, there are many many ways the whole project can fail.
Here are some of the secrets Chef Alvin shared with us to up your success making pizza at home.
Use 00 Flour. It’s a finely ground Italian flour, made from the soft, white interior of the grain. It’s got less bran and germ, making it the gold standard for pizza and pasta dough because it’s less likely to tear. All purpose flour just isn’t strong enough. I ordered the Caputo brand 00 flour from Amazon.
Put the flour and yeast in the bowl and mix until the water is absorbed. No small task! Then mix in olive oil and salt. Keep those fingers working hard.
Dough has a mind of its own - don’t rush it.
Once the dough is mixed, put it on the table and knead, knead, knead. This is work! Ten minutes of work! It’s fun to have friends around when kneading because laughter is definitely part of the process. Almost everyone wanted to stop kneading when the dough was good enough, but Chef Alvin kept us kneading until the dough was very smooth and strong and shaped into a perfect ball.
Next we cut it up into pieces and shaped it into perfectly round balls. At this point the dough has to rest/ferment/do its thing for 3 days.
The fermentation process is one of the secrets to a tasty dough with the right texture. Cold fermentation (in the fridge) allows the gluten to develop naturally and makes the dough taste better.
Next comes the stretch and the toss!
We didn’t have three days to spend at Mister 01, so they brought out some thoroughly rested dough for us to work with and form into the bottom of our pizza. Pizza dough needs to be at room temperature in order to stretch properly.
Here’s Chef Alvin demonstrating how to turn the balls into the soon-to-be crust. The trick here is to add lots of that 00 flour and push and turn the pizza until it looks just right. (This is a fun video! Watch it!)
The toppings: less is more.
Mister 01 is known for its simple yet elevated pizza toppings—fresh tomato sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, truffle oil, spicy salami.
My favorite is Coffee Paolo — tomato sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, honey, coffee (yes, coffee! Fresh coffee grounds) and spicey salami Calabrese. It is SO GOOD.
But even Coffee Paolo pizza is topped with a very light hand and a less is more philosophy.
I rebelled a little about this less is more dictate. I wanted extra cheese. Maybe a little extra sauce. Just a touch more pepperoni. But as I loaded up my pizza, the chef shook his head. Too heavy, the crust won’t bake properly.
So I pared back. Here are some of our final products. Everyone seemed to crave the olives:
Putting my new found skills to work at home
I am far, far from a master pizzaiolo now, but I walked away from Mister 01 with a new respect for the craft. Pizza-making isn’t just about slapping ingredients on a crust—it’s about technique, patience, and letting the simple, high-quality ingredients shine.
My first solo attempt resulted in an oddly shaped, semi-burnt masterpiece. The biggest challenge was transferring the loaded pizza dough onto a pan.
That said, my 550 degree oven cooked the pizza quickly and deliciously.
I’m definitely going to try this again. But first I’m going to order a pizza stone from Amazon.
That is superb! Can’t wait to try it….
I find a pizza pan with holes in it makes a crispier crust than a stone. And we make A LOT of pizza!