From California to the Camino de Santiago. The journey of the courageous baker who returned to open a bakery in a remote village

The Camino de Santiago can change lives. This was the case for Gianfranco Feniello, who after years in California, one of the homes of sourdough bread, decided to open a bakery in his hometown of Valva, a village in the province of Salerno with about fifteen hundred inhabitants. The opening of Miria Forno Artigiano was a small revolution.

Gianfranco Feniello, former sommelier at Gordon Ramsay

Gianfranco Feniello has had many lives. First in Bologna to study International Cooperation and Human Rights, then in London in 2006 to become a sommelier, a career that led him to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay (three Michelin stars), "two tough but beautiful years where I was assistant sommelier and then sommelier, there was meticulous attention to every detail, it was really physically and mentally demanding." Hence the decision to leave and work in an Indian restaurant - "a challenging job in terms of wine pairings" - and then to be involved in the opening of an Italian restaurant, still in London, where he created a nice list of Italian wines, all from small producers. "I was there for four years until it closed, not because it was doing badly, but according to the young owner, we had reached the peak and, according to him, from there we would sooner or later have a decline." It happened around Christmas, Gianfranco returned to Italy and arrived in Milan.

The revelation for bread

"Through a friend I became aware of Davide Longoni, he was launching the 'bread and wine' aperitif and needed help in choosing wines. It was on this occasion that I rediscovered my passion for bread, previously experienced in London when I opened a branch of Boulangerie Poilâne." A revelation encouraged by the visionary and forward-thinking Longoni, who invited him to follow the production in the laboratory. "So I followed the dynamics of the bakery's production, its growth (it was about to open at the Mercato del Suffragio) and little by little I became passionate about baking techniques, I wanted to understand the mechanisms. Davide helped me a lot with this, he's a dreamer who pushes you, stimulates you, embraces other people's dreams and helps you achieve them. He also talked to me about California at the time, 'there's a nice movement related to baking, they're innovative, they make sourdough bread and they do it well, you should go there,' he said to me." A suggestion left hanging until Gianfranco set off on the Camino de Santiago.

The experience in California

It was in Pamplona, one of the stops on the Camino, that he met a girl from San Francisco. "A beautiful friendship was born and she suggested I come visit her once my experience in Spain was over." After just over a month, he found himself in California. "One morning before embarking on a hiking trail, she took me to have breakfast in a small bakery in the countryside north of San Francisco, there was a note on a wall saying they were looking for a baker. That evening I sent an email to apply, without a resume, just a simple message, and the next day they called me to offer me a trial."

He stayed at Wild Flour Bread for three years. It was here that he discovered the "magic" of San Francisco sourdough starter and sourdough bread. It was here that he met a myriad of visionary bakers including the legendary Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery and Dave Miller of Miller's Bake House. "In that area of California, there's an explosion of small stone mills that grind local grains, which are then transformed through long fermentations with sourdough starter in the numerous bakeries that often also offer specialty coffee. There was so much to see and investigate there, but at some point Covid arrived, I heard friends in Italy were scared and I started to worry too, so I decided to return to be close to my family."

The return to Valva

A decision dictated by fear that allowed him to realize a dream. "I've always liked the idea of bringing good bread to these parts, in the province of Salerno and in general in the South, the custom of making bread with sourdough starter has been a bit lost." He sets out to find a shop and finds it right in the center of Valva, near the beautiful Villa D'Ayala, in what was a rotisserie closed for a couple of years now. He does some odd jobs, not much because the premises were quite set for Gianfranco's purpose, and on May 1st, 2022, Miria Forno Artigiano opens its doors. "When I was little, I remember my grandmother, a tiny woman with very thin wrists, kneading pounds and pounds of flour by hand, and once the dough was formed, she gave powerful punches! Her name was Miria, hence the name of the bakery." Where production involves the use of stone-ground flours and, of course, sourdough starter cream brought from California, for large-format loaves (the base costs 4 euros per kilo: "the positive thing is that rents here are low"), with a compact crumb that smells of wheat. But at Miria, focaccias and pizzas are also baked, mainly on weekends, friselle, taralli with extra virgin olive oil, and soon biscuits.

"Exactly two years have passed since I opened, I was well received, but two years in Valva correspond to five months in Milan, here the rhythms are slow and evolution follows these rhythms. At the beginning, for example, I had included some wine labels but I realized it was a gamble, so I preferred to focus only on bread, to be able to tell it at its best. There's time to evolve." There is plenty of time to embark on another revolution in Valva.

Miria Forno Artigiano - Valva - Piazza della Rimembranza, 1