The Mountain Pizza in Milan
The biggest design fair is happening in a week.
Milan Design Week is one of those events that makes you soar. It makes you feel new opportunities, make and remake a million plans.
It makes you feel you’ve got the world in your hands. But trust me: at the same time, you also need space to breathe.
The feeling was like a hangover in the midst of that rainy night, with a million incredible brand cases and activations to share. A date, with myself. I deserve it.
To do justice to my stay in Italy, nothing was more fitting than: my first pizza. It was while walking through Porta Venezia, heading to my Airbnb, that I found Denis.
No recommendation, no guide, but a phrase right on the door: Pizza di Montagna.
Cozy decor, wood and wines in a spacious environment, high ceiling, and open kitchen. I didn’t need to think twice: it’s at the counter.
I was enchanted when I read the first phrase on the menu. The change we want to see in the world was in the first sentence: “Love for nature and small sustainable choices.”
If there’s something that living in Italy teaches me every day, it’s that, much more than feeling love for nature, there must be respect.
From separating the trash to avoiding plastic. Picking a sprig of mint on the way home and yes, missing eating pumpkin: it’s not in season yet.
As Denis says: taste is also about patience, waiting, and respect.
The recipe came up where he grew up: near the mountains.
So don’t expect to find a pizza with the characteristics of Naples or Rome, the dough is extremely crispy and subtly salty. In the background, a combination of mountain herbs grown by him enhances the umami flavor on the palate - widely recognized and explored in East Asian cuisine.
The menu is torture for the indecisive like me, so I went with the recommendation: Winter Rainbow - a combination of colorful vegetables with kale and lychee. After it’s ready: a touch of Pecorino DOP cheese fondue.
The smell of the dough coming out of the oven delivers everything it promises, and I almost didn’t believe it when I discovered why: Denis filters mountain water to use in his pizzas, and he guarantees it’s the reason for the crispiness in the final result.
According to him, the water has a low fixed residue and comes from a karst spring, emerging from a fracture in the rock, about 400 meters above sea level.
The vegetables have flavor, color, and texture. I wouldn’t have imagined that the small lychee seeds could make such a difference.
A thrown back to my childhood. I simply didn’t want that pizza - and that moment - to end.
Honestly, living so close to nature has been like this: it feels like I already belonged, but - still - hadn’t lived it. And this, Devis has confirmed me.
Save yourself for dessert: I hope you choose tiramisu!
There are two units in Milan and, although they escape the main tourist recommendations, the pizzeria is always full - I suggest making a reservation if you don’t prefer the experience of watching the production being done from the counter.