I Tigli

The story

I Tigli – Award-Winning Pizza Research in San Bonifacio, Verona

A New Concept of Pizza

At I Tigli in San Bonifacio, just outside Verona, pizza is treated with the same rigour and intellectual curiosity usually reserved for haute cuisine. The guiding philosophy is disarmingly simple to state — "Keep it simple, stupid" — yet extraordinarily demanding to execute. The result is a style of pizza that earned Gambero Rosso's maximum 3-slice recognition, placing I Tigli among Italy's most respected pizzerias.

The Method Behind the Dough

Three words define the house: crescita, maturazione, lievitazione — growth, maturation, leavening. Every dough is made with sourdough starter and given exactly as much time as it needs in dedicated leavening and maturation cells. There is no single correct method here; the crust — soft or crisp, thin or open-crumbed — is chosen in relation to the topping it will carry.

What sets I Tigli apart technically is the double-baking process. Dough enters the oven at its precise moment of optimal maturation, then is immediately blast-chilled to stop the cook and lock in its characteristics. During service, a second pass — described by the kitchen as a "toasting" rather than a baking — produces a crust that is shatteringly crisp on the outside and cloud-soft within. It is a methodical, science-informed approach that bridges artisan bread-making and restaurant cooking.

The philosophy extends beyond the savoury. Through I Tigli Lab, the team now produces bread, large leavened pastries, and a line of packaged sweet and savoury baked goods — all built on the same dough culture that drives the pizza menu.

The Space

The dining room was designed with the same attention given to ingredients. Porphyry stone floors nod to pizza's origins as street food; yellow Vicenza stone clads the large counter, evoking bread crust; wood furnishings reference the logs once fed into wood-fired ovens. The open kitchen is visible from both the entrance and the dining room — radically transparent, as the team puts it.

Seating was rethought to be warmer and more convivial: wide ash-wood tables and an expanded iconic counter, well suited to a shared tasting. At the entrance, the Bottega offers Lab creations — biscuits, crackers, leavened sweets and bread — to take home.

Pizzas can also be ordered for nationwide delivery via refrigerated courier, extending the I Tigli experience beyond the restaurant walls.