The mountain pizzeria that is taking Milan by storm

Bloody blackout. Blessed blackout. That evening something went wrong at the Da Ezio pizzeria in Alano di Piave, in the Belluno area. There was no electricity, no point in trying to make pizzas. Ezio and Denis Lovatel never had time to talk, always engrossed in the work of that pizzeria located far from everything but which even then enjoyed local glory for claiming to say something dolomitic in the oh-so-Mediterranean world of pizza. Ezio and Denis, father and son, talked that evening. And the latter said to the former: “Dad, I want to open a pizzeria in a big city”. That city was Milan.

A comic-book cabin

Sometimes fairy tales are written in a hurry, the author is hasty, and Denis's pizza in the eponymous place in Via dello Statuto, in the Moscova area, an area of buzzing nightlife, was soon a success. A few weeks and the fans had realised that something was happening in that large multi-tiered venue, a bit of a chalet, a bit of a comic nerd's dream. And today, a year and a few months after its christening, Denis has already won Due Spicchi in the Gambero Rosso Pizzerie d'Italia 2024 guide with the Via dello Statuto location, earning a whopping 88 points. In the meantime, Denis has already doubled with another restaurant in the Porta Venezia area, in the “foodissima” via Melzo (at number 18).

More Roman than Neapolitan

The most Neapolitan thing about the place is Denis as a pizzaiolo and owner. He is expansive and embracing typical southern demeanor, and not hailing from a place where the mountains are much closer than any sea. For the rest, the pizza is far removed from the stylistic trappings of orthodox Neapolitan pizza style, and don't be fooled by the turgid crust. The dough is crispy, more Roman if you really want to look for stylistic cues, and very light. This is a precise expressive choice, a homage to Denis's places of origin, where the air is pure, the silences are long, the seasons are well-cut, and the ingredients naturally natural.

Umami, too much umami

If we want to talk about technique. Denis' dough is very lightly salted, the flavour is provided by a mixture of mountain spices, which flirts with that strange beast that is umami, the fifth taste, disorienting and never tiring. The flours are carefully selected, the leavening is long, and none of this is new, we agree, but then the water comes from the Dolomites and believe us, you can taste it, and the baking is prolonged, avoiding certain chewy excesses.
Then of course the ingredients make the difference, the alpine cheeses, the berries, certain herbs that he gets from those he uses as suppliers back home. The Brividi intensi has a name like a 1970s Mina song and include in the topping scrioja tomato, fiordilatte, wild herbs, toasted sausage, fried leek and pecorino fondue. The Hokkaido puts pumpkin and pancetta at the centre, with tomato and fiordilatte; the winter Meraviglie di Bosco combines fiordilatte with pan-fried mushrooms, truffle shavings, Parmigiano mousse, ground hazelnuts and chives. The Margherita is there and has an entire section of the menu dedicated to it, where it appears in classic, dop, tasty (with cherry tomatoes confit and grated pecorino) and citrusy (with ricotta flakes and lemon zest) versions.

Continuous reinvention

Denis once again demonstrates pizza's enormous ability to reinvent itself and the talent of this authentically universal dish in being able to say something new every now and then even when it seems that everything, including blasphemy, has been said. If the mountain does not go to the pizza, it is the pizza that goes to the mountain. Or, for once, you are halfway there.

Denis Milano Porta Venezia

Via Melzo, 18

 denispizza.it

by Andrea Cuomo