For some time now, when it comes to pizza, the focus is no longer just Campania. While Naples continues to be the queen city for one of the most well-known and beloved foods in the world, pizza styles and pizzerias expressing very different personalities have now spread throughout Italy. It should also be said that until now, in terms of pizzas, the Alto Adige region (in the northern Italy) was not exactly the most mentioned one. That’s why Il Corso pizzeria by Santo Gabriele, in Piazza Vittoria in Bolzano is one of those particularly successful exceptions. This pizzeria he owns together with his wife Fabiana has now become – after a very recent renovation – an extraordinary place for its bright Mediterranean-style ambiance and the quality of the furnishings carefully chosen by Fabiana herself. Non to mention that here you can eat (and drink) particularly well. It’s a family affair, because Santo was joined by Francesco, born in 2000, with a dental technician diploma and a passion that grew to make him one of the best young emerging talents in Italy even before he was 21. Francesco says, “It all began out of the blue, because I started by helping dad and mom in the dining room as a waiter. Meanwhile, during the pandemic, I had time to reflect. My father missed pizza, so once we opened again, we renewed everything, he got his old love back, and Il Corso went from being a bar-restaurant to a restaurant-pizzeria. I wanted to help him out because he was doing everything by himself. So I jumped in!” Francesco left for Naples where he took an intensive course to become a pizza maker. “I had to learn some basics, and there they teach you manual technique well. I put my mind to it and dedicated all my time to learning as much as I could.” Back in Bolzano he realized that this was his path: “At first, I didn’t really understand what I wanted to do, but I saw my father’s great passion. He taught me so much and when you started to get firsthand experience, you change your perspective and way of thinking: I fell madly in love with pizza, and I don’t see anything else for my future.” Like all young people, Francesco is curious and eager to learn: “I turned 22 in September, and I still feel immature, but with the tools you have today – starting from social media – if you want, you have chances to study and observe what is happening around the world.”
So this enthusiastic young man entered Emergente Pizza, the competition that Lorenza Vitali and Luigi Cremona created a few years ago alongside the competition dedicated to chefs and which annually selects the best under-35 pizza chefs: “I was very excited, Cremona is an important person, and I started to get a lot of thoughts. But then there, I met a lot of guys and people from the sector there, bakers, pastry chefs, people who know a thing or two about leavened products. And I truly realized that I have potential that could allow me to push myself beyond what I usually do. And then, when I won, I was blown away, I felt an unspeakable emotion and I burst into tears.” At Emergente Pizza, Francesco brought a pizza that would later become a strong point at pizzeria Il Corso, the Profumi di Salina pizza. “There, however, I named it Contaminazioni (contaminations) because the ingredients are a true mix of north and south, with mozzarella di bufala from Alto Adige, escarole, capers from Salina (Sicily), anchovies from Aspra (Sicily) and date tomatoes.” After all, having a father from Calabria and a mother from Bolzano, contamination is “a trademark” for Francesco. It’s a very fresh pizza, in which the escarole stays crisp and does not burn thanks to the mozzarella di bufala placed on top of it. After baking, capers, anchovies, and tomatoes. From leavening to maturation, the Gabriele’s dough can reach up to 72 hours. “We use a four-flour blend to increase fragrance and flavor: two double zero flours and two type 1 whole wheat flours in a lower percentage. It is a semi-direct dough with very high hydration, reaching almost 80 percent. You have to be very careful because it could spoil quite easily. ” Francesco also had an experience on television with the show ‘Na Pizza,’ hosted by Renato Bosco and aired on Sky. “I brought a pizza that particularly represents me, the Scilla e Cariddi (Scylla and Charybdis) pizza. A white base of fiordilatte mozzarella from Alto Adige and after cooking, capers from Salina – which cannot be missed – the stracciatella di bufala also from Alto Adige, nduja from San Marco Argentano, and organic lemon zest.” A guy to keep an eye on.
