Chef Denis Lovatel talks about pizza dough as though it has a will of its own. “I realised that my role wasn't to control the dough, but to understand it,” he says. “Fermentation is a living process, and every dough has its own rhythm.”
It is a fitting philosophy for a man who grew up at the foot of these mountains, where his family's pizzeria, Da Ezio, opened in 1977. It was there that Lovatel learned his first and most enduring lesson. "The Dolomites teach you respect — for time, for the changing seasons and for the resources they provide," he says. "True richness lies not in adding more, but in stripping away the unnecessary."
That lesson became a career. Lovatel is widely credited as the pioneer of Pizza di Montagna — mountain pizza. "It is not a culinary category," he says. "It is a way of understanding a place." Before developing a menu, he tries to understand the history of where he is working, the people who live there, and the traditions that define it. In the Dolomites, that has meant years spent alongside cheesemakers and foragers. Elsewhere, he says, it might mean listening to fishermen and learning the rhythm of a coastline. "My dough remains my signature," he explains. "The ingredients — and the people behind them — are what give each pizza its sense of place."
This summer, Lovatel’s pizzas arrive at COMO Alpina Dolomites, where he has developed an exclusive menu for Alpina Chalet Grill and Bar, inspired by the UNESCO-listed mountains that surround it. Pure Dolomite spring water forms the base of the dough. Lovatel believes it is the most overlooked ingredient in pizza-making. “It’s the most abundant ingredient in any dough, yet it’s often the one people think about least,” he says. “It influences fermentation, structure and the overall balance.” Carefully selected flours, mountain herbs and a restrained use of salt answer a question that has driven much of his career: why should anyone feel heavy after eating a pizza?
Pure Dolomite spring water forms the base of the dough. Lovatel believes it is the most overlooked ingredient in pizza-making.
"That question led me on a journey of study, research and thousands of experiments," he says. "Lightness isn't a trend; it's a form of respect for the person at the table." Time does much of the work. Each batch rests and ferments for 56 hours, allowing the flavour to deepen and the texture to lighten. "The dough gradually reveals its identity," Lovatel says. "We live in a world that celebrates speed, but time is our most valuable ingredient."
The toppings follow the same logic. Seasonal vegetables sit alongside responsibly sourced fish, carefully selected meats, local cheeses and mountain herbs. The menu changes because the landscape does. It’s built, Lovatel says, around the same anticipation a child feels tasting a wild raspberry for the first time, knowing a year will pass before that exact flavour returns. "It's the anticipation that gives an ingredient its true value," he says, "and it makes every season impossible to replicate."
Discover the new pizza menu at COMO Alpina Dolomites.
