Meet The Psychology Major Behind Fredericton’s New Vegan Pizza
FREDERICTON–The quest for vegan garlic fingers led 25-year-old Alexandra Mackie to change career paths. Now, the psychology major is running Fredericton’s newest pizza joint.
After graduating from St. Thomas University with a degree in psychology and obtaining a job in her field, she quit to pursue her passion: vegan pizzas.
“I’ve always cooked on a personal level and that kind of became my solace,” says Mackie, “when I wasn’t happy at my job, I would make new recipes and cook up pizzas.”
Mackie quit her job to start working on a food truck but was laid off due to the pandemic. That’s when she decided she wanted to make a product of her own to sell.
“I want to feed vegan people in Fredericton. I’ve always loved pizza, it’s so nostalgic for me, I think it is for a lot of people,” she told Huddle in a recent interview.
Mackie has been food blogging since 2018. She says she felt encouraged after getting a lot of interest in the vegan meals she was creating and posting.
She has been a vegan for four years, and a vegetarian before that, and says garlic fingers and cheese pizzas are hard to find as a vegan. While many restaurants have vegan options, vegan-only restaurants are hard to find in Fredericton.
Mackie opened Cool Cat Pizza in December 2021.
“I tried to find connections and find a way that I could fit into the current vegan market because it’s such a great community,” she said.
Her business operates out of Chef Rick’s kitchen. Fortunately, because it is a catering and take-out business, Covid-19 restrictions concerning restaurants did not apply.
Mackie says frozen or fridge pizzas are what the market needs right now.
She partnered with Scottage Cheeze Dairy Free/Vegan Products; a business based out of Fredericton. They provide pizza toppings like an almond-based cheese substitute and three meat substitutes: pepperoni, chicken, and donair meat.
“It’s all about local,” says Mackie, “when I decided to open my business, it was a very clear partnership.”
Through trial and error, Mackie perfected her dough. She says letting dough sit in the fridge overnight allows for fermentation to happen. This means it will be “really stretchy and airy and fragrant,” making it lighter and easier to digest.
Mackie says there is a lot of interest in her pizzas, with many people weighing in on the flavour of her crust.
“They come back for more because they really like the crust,” she says, “I’m really happy with being able to feed not just vegans.”
Mackie would eventually like to grow her business and hopes to become more mobile.
“I really love the idea of travelling with the woodfire oven,” she says. “I would love to expand to have my own restaurant, serving fresh pizzas.”
Mary Allan is an intern with Huddle in Fredericton. Send her your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].