Simone Rodolfi

Simone Rodolfi together with his partner Vita Agnusdei holds the helm at Profumo di Lievito: a bakery-pastry shop with café in Brescia. Simone was born a cook but fell in love with bread making by chance, and moved from starters to dough. Simone is a Petra Selected Partner, a world bread making champion in 2007 at Sirha in Lyon and the winner of the Siab Bakery Award in Verona in 2010. He loves creating a bridge between farmers and clients. «The little we do, we try to do it very well. Giving value to local artisans».

For instance: if he wants to make a cake with pumpkins, he uses the ones supplied by a farmer in Pozzolengo. He bakes the delica variety (the most common one) for 8-10 hours in the oven (the same used for the bread) with all its peel and seeds. «So we concentrate its juices», Simone points out. Then he leaves it to cool and become firm, and after removing peel and seeds he blends it making a firm and thick purée. 

He replaces the eggs, enriching the dough. Adding brown sugar, butter and sunflower onion, he makes a sweet focaccia. Or rather an evolved version of the venezianawhich once ready, he turns upside down. But when cutting it, it reveals its heart: a filling of Gianduja Noisette Noir from Valrhona. 

It’s a round veneziana. «But I can give it different shapes too. A log, for instance», the pastry-chef explains. He’s got plenty of ideas. «I can also transform it into a brioche, fill it with ice cream. Or I can slice it, toast it and serve it with a terrine of foie gras», says the young baker born in 1987. Confirming how versatile pastry-making can be, when it’s made with intelligence.