![]() ![]() Nobody is snobbish about A Teira – possibly because it’s also the only real pizzeria in the village.Įven other restaurateurs enjoy A Tiera’s pizzas. The creative pizza twists of this German-style pizzeria have conquered locals. It was a bit of a test, and I was thrilled when they told me I made a real Italian pizza, thin and crunchy.” ![]() She says things went well from the start: “At our opening ceremony I baked dozens of different pizzas and had everyone try a slice. I never use ingredients out of the fridge.” “I just love to get my hands into kneading the dough, decorating it with fresh foods that are consumed daily. She enjoys playing around with the color of ingredients: “Pizza is amore, we eat with our eyes first then with our mouths.” Irene’s key ingredients are “love and passion.” and an artistic flair. The town only has the pizzeria and one restaurant open year-round. Other than the classics, Irene has successfully experimented with non-Italian ingredients, mixing food traditions. What makes their pizza stand out are the creative twists with original names that stray from Italian tradition. She’s the pizza chef, he handles the tables and clients. There are just 10 tables for 50 customers, and no staff – Thomas and Irene work alone. It is overbooked in spring and summer when sunbathers from the coast come to Airole in search of cooler air and silence. Thanks in part to the Germans’ surprising pizza-making skills, A Teira’s popularity has spread. There are narrow cobblestone alleys called caruggi only wide enough for donkeys, pastel-colored old dwellings with wooden doors, and medieval columns covered in ivy. ![]() Their only competition is a taverna that does takeout pizza during summer months.Īirole is an under-the-radar spot not too far from Liguria’s buzzy beaches, surrounded by pristine forests and valleys. Only one other place to eat is open year-round – a restaurant serving regional dishes but no pizza. The pizzeria is a popular spot for evening meals and weekend aperitivos, especially in winter when most of the few restaurants and bars in Airole are shut. Even locals come here.”Ī Teira, meaning “the earth” in local dialect, is located on a patch of land that used to be worshiped by farmers for its fertile soil. “Clients really do appreciate our pizzas, they become regulars and it’s not just foreigners. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy serving pizza to Italians – it’s such an untouchable, sacred food, but we were never scared of trying, and our courage was rewarded,” says Hartke. The greatest challenge of all, however, was making a good – or acceptable – pizza and hoping that locals didn’t find it revolting. He simply asks the town hall for help, saying “I’m a stupid German, I don’t know what to do.”Īirole locals say they don't have much choice in where to go for pizza. As permit renewals and day-to-day bureaucracy can be a hassle, he’s has found the best way out of it. But running the pizzeria also gave them headaches. ![]() The bar was more demanding, says Hartke, with an 18-hour daily schedule. The couple has always been active, and for them, living the dream is tough but rewarding work.įor a couple of years they ran the village’s main bar, then took over the pizzeria in 2016. “The locals are friendly and welcoming, there’s a cozy village vibe, and we left nothing behind in Germany: why the hell would we ever go back?” “We came back many times, then 23 years ago we moved here for good, settling down in a rented house. “We fell in love with this place in 1975 when we first visited,” says Hartke, a former stonemason turned waiter. What started off as a vacation nearly 50 years ago turned into a new life full of unexpected culinary achievements. Barely 450 people live here 150 of them are foreigners. Thomas Hartke and Irene Horbrand, both in their 60s, run A Teira, the only pizzeria open year-round in the rural village of Airole, in Liguria. Making pizza in Italy and satisfying Italian palates is not the simplest of missions. While many foreigners flocking to Italy to live the idyll crave the Bel Paese’s beauty, scenery and peacefulness, one couple from Munich had a different dream: serving an iconic Italian food to locals. It can also be a job like making pizza – albeit the German way. It also requires lazing around, soaking in the sun, and indulging in great food and wine. Living la dolce vita in Italy isn’t just about snatching a cheap dwelling in a charming rural village. ![]()
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