Friedrich Schmuck

Piano B Casual Food

Via Cairoli, 18
96100 Siracusa
+393382961833

He's the dominus at Piano B in Syracuse, "Tre Spicchi" for Gambero Rosso's Pizzerie d’Italia 2020 guide, which also received the best “Pizza da degustazione” award. It opened in 2011 at the entrance to the island of Ortigia, close to the Santa Lucia and Umbertino bridges, not far from the statue of mathematician Archimedes. «We gave the restaurant this name because we had another plan. In a different location. This was our plan b, which became real», Friedi explains. 

Schmuck was born 40 years ago in Rome but – as one can sense from the name – his father and grandfather were from Bressanone and he spent all his summer holidays, as a child, in the Dolomites. Then, at 11, he moved to the island where his mother was born, to Syracuse. «I grew up in Rome, at Olgiata; I would play outside with my friends and consider myself Roman. I have a strong connection to Alto Adige and its flavours, especially now that my father is no longer with us», he says. But for many years now his home has been in Ortigia.

After working at length in the tourism industry, he wanted to widen his horizons and, influenced by his mother's passion for cooking, he approached the wine world, attending the AIS courses. Then, in 2011, he decided to open a restaurant with pizzeria, Piano B: «In Syracuse there was no place making Roman-style pizza, the thin and crispy kind, so we decided to focus on that. And on pizza alla pala, which nobody had ever made here. We brought some fresh air».

Friedi returns for a few months to Rome to attend the API courses with Angelo Iezzi and Massimiliano Bacich, but initially his plan is to run the dining room. When his pizzaiolo leaves, however, he starts to put his finger in the pie. Meanwhile, the meeting with Molino Quaglia and the courses at Scuola del Molino open his mind to the world of leavening and flour: «It was a turning point. From that moment on my passion for pizza captured me completely. I would have never thought I'd spend my whole days in the pizzeria, looking after leavenings and dough, but I cannot do without it!».

At Piano B he continues to study new solutions and new types of dough (at the moment they offer five different ones), as well as researching the best ingredients for his toppings: «The goal of a pizzaiolo starts indeed from the moment he selects the raw materials: I always try to add something new, we revolutionise the menu every four months, always adapting it to seasonal products».

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Identità Golose

This article is curated by Identità Golose, the publication that organises the international fine dining congress, publishes website www.identitagolose.com and the online Guida Identità Golose, on top of curating many other events in Italy and abroad