Mondofood in Mondovì, having fun with dough

Pizza, cooking, wine and cocktails: these are the galaxies of the Mondofood universe, a nice project entirely dedicated to food and wine and born in 2007 in Mondovì, in the province of Cuneo. Mondovì is one of the so called "seven sisters", that is to say seven of the most important cities in the province (with Alba, Bra, Cuneo, Fossano, Savigliano and Saluzzo). Here, in 2016, Laura Zunino and Davide Danni decided to include pizza, in the old station of Mondovì Breo, on the old train line between Bastia-Mondovì.

Laura Zunino, Nicola Caruso, Davide Danni

They did not just add pizza to the menu, hiring a pizzaiolo to join the restaurant’s kitchen staff. They also created a new concept focused on the oven with the involvement of a dedicated team guided by Nicola Caruso. Their (accomplished) mission was to make a light, crispy and easily digestible pizza thanks to a carefully made dough (with a mix of Molino Quaglia flour that enhances and makes use of all the features of each type of flour in the mix) and recipes for toppings that are based on seasonality and on typical products from all around Italy (i.e. fiordilatte from Agerola, San Marzano tomatoes PDO, tasty cheese from the Langhe, cured meat from Mora Romagnola, ventricina from Vasto, Castelmagno di alpeggio PDO, just to name a few).

They offer different types of dough, depending on flour mix, techniques and baking: at lunchtime, there’s the Roman style pizza alla pala, including La Boscaiola with San Marzano tomato PDO, artisanal speck, fiordilatte from the mountains of Agerola, robiola from Roccaverano PDO, mushrooms and extra virgin olive oil and thyme. In the evening, there’s the round pizza in three versions of dough (classic, tutto grano and multi-cereal) and classic and rich toppings – such as Radicchio e versino, with fiordilatte from the mountains of Agerola, Verzin from Beppino Occelli, pig sausage, stir fried radicchio, extra virgin olive oil – or pizza al padellino in which the dough has spelt, like the one with angus, fresh fried artichokes and mustard salad with extra virgin olive oil and bean sprouts.

In each case, the pizza is served in pieces or slices topped separately so as to enhance the recipes and the ingredients and make the tasting easier. They can be paired with craft beers, wine – especially from Piedmont, of course – or cocktails prepared by the barmen at Mondofood. You’ll find all these pizzas at Mondofood Mondovì Breo in Piazza della Repubblica 5, in Mondovì, Cuneo (tel. +39 0174 44440). A selection of the complete menu, instead (as for pizza, mostly the one alla pala), can be found in the other location, also in Mondovì, called Mondovicino (Piazza Cerea 15/17. Tel. +39 0174 529376). In both cases, the website is mondofood.it.