By Our Editorial Staff
Genuine products, constant research for an outstanding proposal and a family environment: this is Alessandro and Francesca’s recipe.
In 2024 the I’ Regolo restaurant and pizzeria in Scarperia and San Piero a Sieve celebrates its 30th birthday, for the occasion it is redoing its look and offering many new features. “Don’t worry, I’ Regolo remains I’ Regolo but it has become the one of 2024” specifies the owner Francesca.
The pizzeria was opened by his parents, Vilma and Pasquale, in 1994. The father already worked in the gastronomic sector and made the bet to open a new place in San Piero a Sieve. “That year – Francesca remembers – the festival dedicated to Regolo was redone after a long time and a friend of my mother suggested calling the pizzeria that way. The whole family liked the name.” The Regulus is a monster that we find in numerous peasant legends. It is said that this creature lived in the foundations of the Medici Fortress of San Piero.
Vilma and Pasquale have transformed their pizzeria into an institution in the Mugello town: a place where you can feel at home while eating excellent pizza. Alessandro and Francesca took the reins of the business in 2011.
Alessandro is a pizza chef who is particularly attentive to the search for quality raw materials and who is not afraid to get involved. “I started working as a pizza chef by chance – he says -. When Francesca’s brother stopped working at I’ Regolo on weekends, I proposed to do it myself, since I was still waiting for her to finish her shift. Since then I have discovered a great passion for flour and leavened products.” Regolo pizza is known throughout Mugello. Alessandro offers both low Roman pizza and long leavening pizza, softer at the edges, very light and digestible. With the ‘new’ Regolo you will find numerous innovations from the oven. You can choose between three doughs: the classic one, the long leavening one (with which gourmet pizzas are made), the wholemeal one and the gluten-free one. In fact, for 10 years Regolo has received the certificate from the AIC (Italian Celiac Association) which guarantees a choice of products and specific processing for people with celiac disease.
All the doughs are made with OIRZ flours (Italian Origin Zero Residues), a project by the Umbrian Molini Fagioli, a Magione-based company active in the flour field of soft wheat, which aims to produce flours with zero residue, therefore without pesticides, mycotoxins and heavy metals. “We looked for a long time for a flour producer who had certain requirements and in the end we opted for Molini Fagioli who have a more than organic flour. Ours was not only a commercial choice but also an ethical one. We want to offer our customers a healthy product, in fact our pizza is very digestible” explain the owners. Alessandro makes the long leavening dough with a highly natural chariot made by him.
To have an excellent pizza it is not enough to have excellent flour, all the ingredients are in fact scrupulously chosen by Alessandro and Francesca. Their pizza is topped with Agerola mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes from Agro Sarnese Nocerino Dop. And so, both the gourmet and classic pizzas are filled with only excellent products.
The real novelty of the 2024 Regolo is the pan pizza which is cooked in a small iron pan or pan. It involves double cooking which makes the pizza soft and fluffy with a crunchy base. Il Regolo seasons it with gourmet products, for example he offers a pizza with pulled beef, beer-soaked onion and black cabbage pesto. It is designed as a dish to share as an appetizer. This is also Alessandro’s idea: an innovative way of serving and making pizza that he discovered in one of his many refresher courses.
The desire to experiment and keep up with the times is a characteristic of Regolo that we also find in his cuisine. Its menu offers typical Mugella dishes (from tortelli with ragù to coccoli) but also traditional delicacies revisited in a modern key such as tortellone filled with ribollita on a cream of red beans from Lucca and black cabbage chips. The king of Regolo’s cuisine is chef Giody Brunetti. The chef began his career here and then returned to the San Piero a Sieve restaurant in April 2021 after having gained numerous experiences in renowned restaurants.
When we come to Regolo we are sure of enjoying genuine dishes with a modern panache and of being welcomed by a family embrace. An embrace that will be even warmer thanks to the new look of the place: today white and soundproof walls welcome Alessandro and Francesca’s customers and other design features give a more modern and comfortable environment.
All we can do is wish another 30 years of business to this pizza restaurant that never ceases to surprise.
Info: I’ Regolo, Via Calimara 4 A, 50038 Scarperia e San Piero (Fi) / Phone: 055 849 8240 / https://i-regolo.it/
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 19.00-24.00
Wednesday 12.00-14.00