26-01-2015
I Tigli’s 20th birthday (via Camporosolo 11, San Bonifacio. +39.045.6102606) will be celebrated at Identità Milano too, on Monday 9th February, a day entirely dedicated to pizza and bread inside Sala Blu 2. The other speakers will be Francesca Morandin, Gabriele Bonci, Federica Racinelli and Martino Faccin, Franco Pepe, Renato Bosco, Alberto Morello, Vitantonio Lombardo and Angelo Rumolo (here the complete programme)
MAYA CALENDAR – All the 2015 communication for I Tigli will enjoy an illustration that Gianluca Biscalchin drew for the purpose: a Maya calendar representing the seasons and the ingredients Padoan usually uses
THE FIRST PIZZA – A contemporary take on the classic Margherita. This is the pizza he prepared for his first clients: «They were my neighbours, in 1994». Margherita was "classic", but Padoan-like: with fresh tomato and buffalo milk mozzarella, warmed on the side and left to drip
TECHNOLOGY OR NOT - «There’s no technology that can help if, when you cook, you do not feel the pleasure of an artisanal work, which does not allow for distraction»
HIS DAUGHTER GAIA - In 1999 Gaia, Simone’s daughter, was born, a key year as on that same year he starts to desire a professional change and a new identity
RESEARCH – In 2000 Simone starts to analyse his first intuitions into detail. Four years of research on raw materials, cooking and, of course, making bread with mother yeast. This is when his pizza in eight slices was born
ORIGINS AND TRADITION – Still, Padoan is very tied to his origins, as demonstrated by his choice of staying in San Bonifacio, and he’s convinced that only by remaining authentic and coherent one can let his star shine
IDENTITA' GOLOSE (1) - Padoan and I Tigli conquer more and more attention in the Italian gastronomic scene, including that of Paolo Marchi, creator of Identità Golose, who in 2008 starts to invite Simone to the congress (in the photo, the two are on the stage of Identità di Libertà, in San Marino in 2011)
THE “NEW” I TIGLI – Another turning point arrives in 2012, in particular during the three summer months, those that Padoan needed to renovate the restaurant
the old Tigli...
...and the new one
IDENTITA' GOLOSE (2) - Padoan on the stage of Identità Milano 2014, with Francesca Barberini
«THE PIZZAS I HOLD DEAREST»– Certainly the one with Burrata and prosciutto San Daniele “riserva 18 mesi”. He says: «The idea came during a motorbike tour with some friends, in 1995. We were in Tuscany, we were hungry, we went inside a shop and asked for a sandwich. The lady prepared one with burrata and prosciutto ham. Fabulous» (photo Passione Gourmet)
«LE PIZZE CUI SONO PIU AFFEZIONATO» (2) - La pizza Tagliata di tonno pinna gialla del Mediterraneo su cipolla di Tropea marinata al balsamico, «una rivisitazione della "tonno e cipolle" che si trova ovunque, col tonno in scatole e la cipolla che arriva da chissà dove. La mia versione fu un successo clamoroso, compravamo un tonno da 50-60 chili ogni settimana, a fine estate facevo scorta di cipolle per tutto l'inverno». Rapida marinatura nell'aceto, il tonno appena scottato, sale Maldon... Ora la pizza non è più in carta, per ragioni etiche
REFERENCE CHEFS - «Those I respect the most? Master Corrado Assenza (in the photo with him). Then Massimiliano Alajmo, a genius. The Portinari brothers of La Peca, Lionello Cera. And Antonio Dal Lago of Casin del Gamba. I also admire Pier Giorgio Parini...»
With Norbert Niederkofler and Karl Baumgartner
With colleague Renato Bosco
IS MY PIZZA TOO EXPENSIVE? - «A client, last night, said our pizza with prawns is too expensive. This is the price we have paid for the prawns this morning!!! Not all expensive things are good, but everything that is good is a little more expensive. I continue down this road...» Simone Padoan, 29th March 2014, on Facebook
LEAVENED DESSERTS - Since 2013 Padoan creates new expressions of natural yeast cakes: Venetian focaccia, panettone, pandolce, pan brioche...
THE FUTURE - «I would recommend young people to be themselves: be inspired by famous colleagues, study, learn and then look for your own road»
«I realised almost from the start that the road taken, that of changing pizza, was the right one. I then got truly scared I wouldn’t be up to the job. I told myself: "Simone, you need to keep your feet on the ground».
In this sentence there’s the lightness of a dreamer and the soundness of a farmer; the creative work of the mind and the manual one. It is not easy for these elements to live in the same person: one of these rare people was born in Verona in 1971 and has been making pizzas since 1988, and has a place of his own - I Tigli in San Bonifacio - since 1994. He changed the way of conceiving pizza in the land of pizza itself. He made it noble, made sure that the reputation of a “creative” pizza chef would rise to the same level of a chef.
The tension was high in the pizza sector. A fast food logic was dominating: products were increasingly mass-produced, everyone was rushing to cut costs and quality. «I said: let’s do the opposite, let’s improve the dough, use fresh raw materials». An initially cautious turning point.
This year the twentieth birthday of I Tigli is celebrated. The anniversary will be celebrated worthily, throughout 2015, with important events from March until December.
We almost forgot: the person we’re talking about is Simone Padoan. Enjoy the photo gallery (photos are by Aromicreativi).
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by
journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief