Wide range, balance and creativity: the winning recipe of the high-altitude pizza at El Gringo in Calalzo di Cadore

Calalzo di Cadore, in the province of Belluno, is a «Middle Earth», that's how Livio Mancini calls it. Since 2012 he's the patron and pizzaiolo at El Gringo. We're some 30 km from Cortina, in the heart of the Alps, in what was a very popular tourist destination in the Sixties. Today things have changed though the charming natural beauty of the place remains. Here Mancini developed his personal idea of pizza. The initial idea was ambitious: it's very simple to match creativity and variety with a large city where novelties immediately become trendy, a magnet for food lovers. But why not try to do this in a small town too? Why not offer an attractive product in terms of flavours and format also in Calalzo?

The location, therefore, is no longer an alibi that justifies doing well enough, but a stimulus to seduce the local population with a pizzeria that keeps the standards high, interpreting pizza in all its possible forms.

El Gringo now offers a very rich selection of pizzas and dough: for instance the dough alla romana for pizza on the peel, or the one with wholewheat spelt or with cereals, and then of course the classic dough. They make pizzas in the tegamino, traditional ones, pizzas "focacciate" fragrant and topped with all sorts of delicacies, pizzas in the baking tin... 

The evolutionary spirit of El Gringo is marked by curiosity. Even in terms of flour which must be first of all of finest quality, in other words it must smell and taste of wheat; then it must be versatile, to allow the different types of processes; finally it must be made by producers whose entire supply chain is trustworthy. «It is no coincidence that we decided to work with Molino Quaglia – says Livio – Not only have we obtained a tangible response with the products and the fine quality of the Petra brand, but also because it is gratifying to receive timely assistance when needed, and to have access to many training opportunities to learn to use the different brands in the best possible way».

The topic of the moment at El Gringo? The 80’s Pizza Challenge, which Livio shared with his colleagues too: pizzas inspired by the most kitsch and unforgettable recipes from that decade. A pretext to give pizza the touch of lightness it deserves, to make it fun and to share some irony with guests!