I Tigli: The Willingness to always get better
The first visit in 2009
To the best of my knowledge, San Bonifacio, a small town near Verona, is where the phenomenon of the pizza gourmet started in the 2000s. In that city Simone Padoan, the chef and the owner of the pizzeria, I Tigli, was a pioneer of a new concept of pizza. I still remember my first visit, and the only one until few days ago, to I Tigli in 2009. A couple of friends and I booked a table because we read an article in a magazine affirming that the best pizza chef in the world was in Veneto and not in Naples. The article said that the pizza chef’s name was Simone Padoan, who ran I Tigli, and he made a kind of pizza that had never been seen before, but there was not any picture or any further detail about those pizzas. Consequently, we were extremely curious to discover what Padoan’s pizzas could have that were so different from the others.
When we arrived to I Tigli, the place looked similar to the typical pizzeria which can be found in nearly each quarter in Italy. We stepped into the pizzeria, sat at the reserved table and ordered 2 pizzas.
Once they arrived at the table, we understood the statement in the article. Our idea of pizza included a round piece of cooked dough where melted Mozzarella cheese swims in a sea of hot tomato mixed together with other ingredients. However, it was not what we had in front of us.
Indeed, in each dish there were 8 slices of something similar to bread and on the top of them raw or cooked ingredients. Some slices had Stracciatella cheese and prosciutto, others medium rare tuna with onion. The slices had enough consistency that they didn’t bend when you picked them up, although the toppings were quite heavy. The food was excellent, and the overall experience was extremely positive, but we were still wondering if what we ate was a pizza or not.
Nowadays, that dish is considered a pizza and it is usually called “pizza gourmet”.
The second visit in 2021
A t the beginning of December 2021, when the number of people infected by the COVID-19 started to increase in Europe again, some of my friends and I decided to reserve a table at I Tigli. In fact, we wanted to taste Simone Padoan’s creations again before new movement restriction policies would be put in place by the Government. We found a table for 4 available on December 18th and immediately reserved it.
As planned, on Saturday December 18, we arrived at I Tigli.
Although I think that the address was the same as 12 years ago, the building and the restaurant might have had such an extensive renovation that they both were barely recognizable. We arrived there at 12.30 and our reservation was for 13.00. So, we asked if we could have our table in advance. They kindly accepted our request.
I would define the I Tigli’s location as bright, minimalist but extremely elegant. On the right side of the entrance door, there is the professional open kitchen, and on the right side there is a little delicatessen exposing some of the I Tigli’s bakery products on sale.
In front of the door, there is the dining room. Our table was near a huge window. We took our seats and immediately ordered 5 pizzas to share. Indeed, each of us chose one pizza, and we left the choice of the 5th one to the member of the I Tigli’s staff who was attending us.
The atmosphere was extremely relaxing, there was plenty of room between the tables. That day, the clients were mainly families and some local workers having their lunch break there.
The service was sublime. The waitress attending us was efficient, fast, polite, and extremely good at guiding us through the selection of the pizzas and dishes without being pushy. For example, at the moment of the dessert, we all ordered a slice of I Tigli’s Panettone carried by the enthusiasm of trying it. She noticed it and she kindly suggested that we could share two slices of Panettone and give two other desserts a try. We followed her advice, and it was the right decision, because a half of a slice was enough to taste the Panettone and it was also worth trying another dessert.
The 5 pizzas, that we ordered, were:
- Croccante: salsa di pomodoro al forno e burrata
- Baccalà Mantecato: focaccia al mais, baccalà mantecato, e caponatina piccante.
- Carbonara di Capasanta: fior di latte, cappuccio viola, capasanta, zabaione salato e guanciale croccante.
- Burrata e Culatello di Zibello: Antica Corte Pallavicina
- Anatra alla Birra: lardo di Josko, petto d’anatra, radicchio tardivo grigliato e rapa rossa fermentata
All the pizzas were simply amazing. Not only were they a pleasure for the most discriminating palates but also, they were extremely light. The sensation was like eating clouds made by bread.
The two pizzas that remained stuck in my memory were Baccalà Mantecato and Burrata e Culatello di Zibello, but for two very different reasons.
The Bacalà Mantecato pizza impressed me for the mix of ingredients. Indeed, the pizza was made by maze, and the toppings were “whipped salt cod spread/creamed cod” and a slightly spicy caponata. A combination that if it is not well-balanced it may give birth to a quite disgusting dish, whereas the final result of that pizza was outstanding. The texture of the pizza was slightly crunchy, the cream cod was delicate and tasty, and the caponata was enhancing its flavour without covering it.
It is highly probable that the idea behind this dish is the reproduction of the famous Venetian appetizer Baccalà mantecato with polenta in the form of a pizza.
However for me, the Burrata e Culatello pizza had been the proof of Simone Padoan’s never ending willingness to get always better. Indeed, in theory the pizza should have been the same as the Prosciutto and Burrata ate 12 years ago, but in reality, the two were not even in the same league.
Burrata e Culatello di Zibello pizza was crunchier, lighter and a better match for the topping.
This tension towards a constant improvement is something that cannot be taken for granted also among the most famous chefs; in particular when they have been the fathers of a specific culinary style.
I n conclusion, in my humble opinion, the pizzeria I Tigli together with the pizzeria Pepe in Grani is a mandatory stop in order to get in touch with the state of art of the pizza-making.
