With him at the helm, La Ventola, a place surrounded by fields, a pine forest and the white beaches of Vada (Livorno) opened by his parents in the early Seventies, embraced with determination the possibility of self-producing as much as possible: this journey was hardly improvised but planned in detail over the years, and is now giving some very convincing results.

All the pizzas are made with a sourdough with Petra stone milled flour: 1, 2, Whole wheat. And to second a natural evolution, he went on with introducing some experimental wheat varieties, planted and grown in the family’s fields, eleven hectares in the area of Collemezzano. The very ancient monococcum spelt, Gentil Rosso, Verna and Senatore Cappelli, all stone milled in the mill built some time ago near La Ventola.

This is where the pizzas, the bread and the loaves for the restaurant and for the public come from. The olive oil, HinØial, is also self-produced, from an olive grove with 2K plants, next to the fields of wheat.

Making use of the forced stop, Antonio completed some projects for the wellbeing of his guests, taking care of the experience of his clientele as well as of the quality of the food served.

There are many changes: «We opened again around the 2nd of June – says the pizzaiolo from Livorno. – We didn’t start with the dining room service, right away, but with take away. And it went very well. Thanks to the phone calls I received, I realised people were still too afraid to spend time away from home serenely. So we decided to offer two formats, on top of our classic service: "Pizza Drive” next to one of our entrances, where people could pick their order without even getting out of the car; and a Pic Nic area, in front of the restaurant and surrounded by nature, where we have very big tables and the right distances so that everyone can feel at ease: when people arrive, they find a sanitised and packaged tablecloth, and even their order has a new and dedicated packaging, so they can sit and enjoy the night under the stars».

There’s more: «Between March and April, with my father we replanted the entire vegetable garden. We’ve always had it, until twenty years ago. It was very demanding in terms of attention and energy. Taking care of the restaurant gradually drew us away from this activity but this was the time to start over, because it fits perfectly with the way we want to grow. We have peppers, watermelons, aubergines, courgettes, different types of salad, tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. So we will use our own vegetables».

Antonio has designed a new, more immediate menu: «I wanted to second the moment, this was my need. I want guests to come multiple times. I thought of simple pizzas, to start again, and a couple of gourmet pizzas. Not more. They are larger and richer. And always of the highest quality».

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Andrea D'Aloia
source: https://www.identitagolose.it/ermes/newsletter/?id=320

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