Born in the Belluno Dolomites, Denis Lovatel turned his family’s Pizzeria Da Ezio into a lab for light, crunchy “mountain pizza.” After accolades from 50 Top Pizza, he opened Denis – Pizza di Montagna in Milan (2022) and, in 2024, brought his sustainable pies to Albany Resort in the Bahamas.
Raised in Alano di Piave (1975), Lovatel inherited dough skills from his father Ezio, who founded the pizzeria in 1977. Armed with degrees in economics and marketing, he returned to the kitchen to lighten Veneto’s classic pie: 52-hour dough, ultra-low salt replaced by Alpine herbs, and a biscuit-crisp rim. The concept rests on local identity and sustainability—Plastic-Free since 2019, waste crusts fed to farm animals, ingredients sourced from small malga producers.
His method earned the San Pellegrino Innovation & Sustainability Prize (2019–2020) and steady spots in 50 Top Pizza, where Da Ezio ranks 17th in Northern Italy (2024).
In late 2020 he launched Denis – Pizza di Montagna in Milan’s Porta Venezia, later adding a Moscova branch. Toppings include “Winter Forest” with conifer cream and Val Grigna trout, and a “Dolomiti” pie with mountain “puzzone” cheese and candied pine. The venue gained 50 Top Pizza’s “Green Oven” award in 2024 for its environmental commitment.
Lovatel’s “Pizza in Malga” initiative (since 2023) takes workations to 1 800 m huts, where dough rises on indigenous yeasts and guests taste biodiversity in situ. In 2024 he opened a corner at Albany Resort in Nassau - carrying Dolomite flavors to Caribbean shores.
He calls his technique “responsible crunchiness”: “a light pizza that respects the mountain’s breath.” Lovatel collaborates with the University of Padua’s Food Science Department on native grains resilient to climate change and spends free time climbing via ferrata “to test how altitude air affects fermentation.”
