Two Cats on a Hot Oven

«Parma is more ready than other cities for the high quality so-called “tasting” pizza. Here there is a strong food culture, we’re in the heart of the Food Valley...». Massimo Gatti, born in 1983, is ecstatic. He is now at work in the ducal city but with roots up in the mountains, in Borgotaro, to be precise, the land of some beautiful porcini in a valley closed among the first tops of the Apennines, on river Taro.

It was 2005 when he decided to lock in a drawer his accountant certificate, which he had received a few years earlier, and follow a passion he had felt since he was a child: cooking. He involved the entire family and opened his first establishment at one end of his village. It was called I Due Gatti [literally, The Two Cats] an explicit and ironic reference to his activity in the kitchen (and with the oven), and that of his father Dino Gatti in the dining room. Not counting the many other felines that started to be part of the rooms, in the shape of ornaments from all sorts of places.

It was the beginning of an adventure: Massimo is an ambitious guy, he would not be satisfied and the peripheral location of Borgotaro was not enough for him, in the long run. So he studied a lot, at Alma, the International School of Italian Cuisine guided by Gualtiero Marchesi in nearby Colorno, and researched leavening and dough techniques. After this the opportunities linked to a clear vocation for high quality pizza began to stand out, and they now find a perfect accomplishment in the second family establishment, opened a few months ago in the centre of Parma.

There’s no kitchen – in the village, brother in law Samuele Magro is left in the kitchen, dishing out a simplified menu, with Chiara Gatti, Massimo’s sister, in the dining room and Dino helping both. In fact there’s not even a chair, if one does not count the stools: we’re in a place that has a true vocation for take away. The city’s response, however, arrived nonetheless, for the reasons Gatti jr explained earlier. Or simply because the pizza he make is really good. There are three kinds in the menu, based on the size, and always made in a baking tin: thin (round and crispy), thick (served in slices and light) and chisolino, the local stuffed focaccina. The dough has a long natural leavening. As for the toppings, the range goes from classics to special, more innovative ones. The raw materials are highly selected, there’s even a brochure indicating each supplier, with their distance too.

We decided to take a wide selection: the debut was with the chisolino Da Anselmo, with Apulian burrata and culatello selezione Lucedio Bocchi, great elegance. Second tasting, another chisolino, Gattone, with prescinsoa, Genoan pesto, ham steak and tomato, reminding us that Liguria is close by. Then other delicious slices: Fragno, with a sumptuous topping of fiordilatte, fontina, organic egg and black truffle from Fragno; a mainly seasonal pizza, just like the following slice, Puntarella di luna, with fiordilatte, anchovies, oil aromatised with citrus f fruits and black garlic: the crispiness and aromas were fantastic. Then Don Camillo, a tribute to the genius loci, an apotheosis of deliciousness: fiordilatte, parmesan cream, borettane baby onions cooked in fortana wine, Antica Ardenga cooked shoulder from San Secondo. Finally, a strong proposal from afar: Aspromonte, with tomato, fiordilatte, smoked provola, ‘nduja and onion. Massimo after all has studied to become a chef and you can tell in the harmony of his pairings; and he’s got creativity too, so much so he continually presents “limited edition” pizzas, linked with a specific excellent ingredient which is only temporarily available to him (check out his Facebook page).

In Borgotaro there’s still the workshop where the dough is kneaded (using mother yeast); this is where the dough that is also used in Parma arrives from. It is a business model that could leaven other establishments too, as if this were a format. Indeed, this is the intention. Accountant Massimo Gatti, besides being good at making pizzas, is also good with numbers.