Meet the Couple Behind Birdie’s Pizza, Asheville’s New Sourdough Slice Shop
Written by Eric Barton | July 18, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Birdie’s Pizza isn’t just another slice shop opening downtown—it’s a decade-long dough experiment, a family project named after the couple’s daughter, and a love letter to New Jersey corner pizzerias.
Chrissy and Justin Balzer, both alums of The Culinary Institute of America and Hendersonville’s Postero, are bringing their version of New York-style pizza—20-inch rounds, airy Sicilian squares, and the kind of meatballs your Italian aunt would approve of—to the former Manicomio space in Asheville.
I caught up with them this week, just a few days after they started serving slices for the first time on Sunday. We talked about testing recipes for years, balancing restaurant life with raising daughters Wren and River, plus two dogs, a sourdough starter, and a dream.
Justin and Chrissy Balzer
Let’s start at the beginning—how did you two meet, and was food part of the story from the start?
Chrissy: Justin and I met at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. I was in the pastry program and he was in culinary. That was about 20 years ago. We connected through food from the start—my family’s Italian and Irish, so sharing those food traditions became a big part of our relationship. A lot of our dates involved cooking together or going out to try new places. One of our favorite memories is eating at Una Pizza Napoletana in New York City. It was so simple and perfect, and Anthony’s dedication to his craft left a big impression on us. That’s when our curiosity for pizza really began.
Justin, you started in restaurants at 15—how did that path lead you from New York to Postero?
Justin: I started washing dishes at a fine dining restaurant just to make money, but I was hooked right away by the rhythm and energy of the kitchen. Food became a way to express myself. After high school, I went to culinary school, where I met Chrissy. We lived and worked in New York for about five years before moving to Asheville. When we saw the job ad for Postero, we both applied. Being part of that opening team and learning from Stephanie and Jason Reasoner shaped us in big ways. We ended up staying for more than a decade.
Chrissy, what led you into pastry, and what were some of the stops along the way before Postero?
Chrissy: I grew up baking with my mom, and as an Italian kid, food was always central to our lives. I knew I could bake every day and never get tired of it, so I went to CIA to study pastry. While I was still in school, I worked at Jacques Torres Chocolate in New York City—he taught me so much. After graduating, I worked for James Beard nominee Marie Jackson at The Flaky Tart in New Jersey, where I learned the value of quality ingredients and small-batch baking. Then we moved upstate and I worked at Bread Alone for Dan and Sharon Leader, learning a ton about bread and sourdough. Eventually we made our way to Asheville and joined Postero to get hands-on experience in opening a restaurant from the ground up.
What inspired the concept for Birdie’s Pizza?
Chrissy: Birdie’s is named after our oldest daughter, Wren. She was there with us through the five years we spent testing our dough, trying to perfect the blend of local North Carolina organic flour and our 10-year-old sourdough starter. It’s not fully sourdough—we use a little commercial yeast—but that mix, plus a long fermentation, makes the dough more digestible and flavorful. I grew up in New York and New Jersey, where 20-inch pies were just the norm. Big slices, family-friendly. We wanted to bring that to Asheville. And Sicilian pies, you just don’t see them here much, so we wanted to change that. The downtown location has foot traffic, tourists, and best of all—30-minute free parking right in front, which locals don’t always know about but we hope they take advantage of.
“There’s a lot of love and tradition in everything we’re serving—and we’re just getting started.”
Running with two young daughters sounds intense. How do daughters Wren and River and your dogs Keebler and Bodie factor in to the restaurant?
Chrissy: It’s definitely chaotic, especially with River still in her toddler era—she keeps us on our toes! But both girls are thrilled that they basically have unlimited pizza now. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start greeting customers soon. Keebler is 15 and living his best retired life at home, but Bodie will probably be hanging out on the patio. He’s a crust connoisseur.
When you do manage a day off, what does that look like?
Chrissy: We haven’t had a real day off yet! But we always cook at home. We’ve got a big garden, and we want the girls to grow up understanding seasonal ingredients and quality food. They both love helping in the kitchen—baking cookies is a weekly thing at our house, and that’s why you’ll find fresh cookies at Birdie’s, too. They also make pizza and pasta with Justin regularly. Cooking is a big part of our family life.
Opening your own place is a big leap. What was the feeling as you got ready to turn on the oven and open the doors at Birdie’s?
Chrissy: It’s a huge leap. I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. We’ve worked for so many years to make this happen, and now we just hope people enjoy what we’re doing. Birdie’s is a love letter to our families—for all the support they’ve given us. The first ticket we got was for a 20-inch cheese pie and meatballs. The meatball recipe is from my family, the hot pepper salad is my mom’s, and Justin’s giardiniera is based on an old family recipe. There’s a lot of love and tradition in everything we’re serving—and we’re just getting started.
