Pizzaiolo Denis Lovatel brings his award-winning pizza to Milan, with the opening of “Denis – Pizza di Montagna,” a brand new notion created to introduce the Milanese to the leavened products of Lovatel, a Bellunese pizzaiolo and former owner of Da Ezio in Alano di Piave (BL), born from a philosophy that embraces sustainability and respect for the territory.
The project
“I am coming to Milan after a long courtship with this city,” explains Denis Lovatel, “which I particularly enjoy because this is where I started my previous working career, before devoting myself to the family pizzeria in the Dolomites. The project was developed with the Food Partners group, and with entrepreneurs who immediately shared my idea of pizza and who strongly believe in the project.”
Denis – Pizza di Montagna
Denis Lovatel brings to his new restaurant those same pizzas that have made him famous nationally and internationally. Strongly inspired by the Dolomites and the products that this Unesco World Heritage area offers, he makes his pizzas starting with a unique dough: crispy and light, low-calorie, in the preparation of which salt is replaced and offset by the savoriness of the mountain herbs and the balance of the chosen ingredients.
The mountain water that is used in the dough, appropriately filtered, comes from a spring of karst nature, which comes out of a rock fracture, about 400 meters above sea level; it has a low fixed residue and fundamental properties to give crispness to the pizza.
To this dough, for which the leavening process lasts at least 52 hours, fine toppings are added, with the goal of making a pizza that has a strong identity, represents the territory and respects the surrounding nature, giving due value to the small agricultural dairy productions of the Dolomites. In this regard, many of the ingredients at “Denis” will be produced by carefully selected partner farms.
The menu
“I have always tried to do the most for my area,” Lovatel explains, “communicating and promoting it at every opportunity that has come to be my way. To be able to do this on an ongoing basis today in Milan is a source of great pride for me. The menu will be dedicated almost entirely to the mountains, but there will be a small selection of pizzas that pay homage to Milan, a city that has welcomed me with great affection. Overall, the menu will be largely vegetarian, but rich in flavor and character. We have also done significant research on cheeses, some aged in caves in the Dolomites, while others are produced in mountain pastures and are characteristic, such as Graukase, which is very difficult to find on a menu in Milan.”
The restaurant
The restaurant consists of a veranda with 60 seats and dehors, an indoor room with 68 seats and a second underground room, which will be used for private events. Downstairs is the wine cellar with a nice selection of labels made by independent winemakers. The furnishings are made from reclaimed wood, whose different coloring is due to time spent naturally in the sun; the stone on the tables comes from the Dolomites. The result is a true and sincere homage to Denis’s beloved mountains and nature.
The drink list also fully reflects the pizza maker’s mountain philosophy: guests can end their lunch or dinner with bitters and grappa made from a careful selection of alpine herbs. Natural, biodynamic and orange-wines enrich the pizzeria’s varied wine cellar, alongside important Italian and French references. The prestigious Lavazza 1875 brand is the coffee of choice at the end of the meal.