FILIPPO RICCI

I’m Filippo Ricci, Director and Pizza Chef of  Pizzeria Italia and Im.pà.sto in the U.K.

I’m an Italian guy who comes from a lovely town called Giulianova, located in front of the Adriatic Coast in the Abruzzo region.

I started my studies as a Pizzaiolo in the first months of 2015, coached by Master Pizza Chef  Valerio Valle.

My first course was focused on ‘Classic Pizza’, subsequently obtaining the Pizzaiolo diploma at an Italian professional school.

I then attended a personalised course on ‘Pizza alla Pala’ and ‘Vegan Pizza’ with the Pizza Chef Vincent Di Marcello.

At the end of 2015, I moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in England, where I started my first cookery experience at an Italian restaurant called ‘Little Italy’ inside the Grainger Market in the city’s heart.

The Pizzaiolo journey began with purchasing the pizza shop ‘Pizzeria Italia’ in Newcastle in 2017.

In 2018 I perfected my method thanks to another experience with my teacher Valerio Valle,
the occasion on which the first ‘Pizza Gourmet Testing Event’ was celebrated at Pizzeria Italia.

In 2019, I attended a tailored course  focusing the studies on ‘Indirect Dough’ and on ‘High Hydration Doughs’, applied to the ‘Pizza by the cut’ using pans and trays.

At the end of 2019, I participated as a finalist in the UK National Pizza Championship at the Italian Awards in Manchester.

Thanks to my sacrifices and commitment, I proudly joined the ‘Italian Professional Pizza Makers Team‘, founded by Valerio Valle, collaborating with some of the Award-Winning Pizza Chefs.

In 2019, we put together a charity evening in Italy focused on Pizza with the association #pizzaforasmile to help an Italian association with people with disabilities.

In 2020 I founded the first Pizza School in the North East, offering specialised professional courses for pizza makers.

During 2020, the project rapidly developed a network of contacts, resulting in us proudly importing Pizza equipment; this has led us to open 2021 our showroom in Cramlington, where we can showcase Italian brands’ products from Forni David, Moretti Forni, Effeuno, O.E.M., Esmach, IP Bake, Mecnosud, GiMetal, and Molino Dallagiovanna.

In 2022, a new project called Im.pà.sto was born with the primary objective of incorporating my Showroom, Academy and Lab, leading me to develop the main project called PIZZA SOLUTIONS.

The aim is to offer to consult all around the Pizza world.

In 2023 I became a Chef Ambassador for Moretti Forni, the world’s best and most evolving pizza oven brand.

All these experiences have allowed me to stay updated,
continuously testing new products, trying different methods and constantly developing innovative ideas to make a nice and tasty Pizza, healthy and easily digestible, looking for an evolution in the tradition of Italian Pizza.

EVOLVING TRADITION