Poddi-Pizza

Family-run pizzeria from Italian chefs Luigi and Alessio Poddi, offering Neapolitan pizza, both traditional and signature styles – in the shape of an eight-pointed star, a four-leaf clover, a crab, as well as homemade pasta and coffee.

"Poddi-Pizza" is a family-run pizzeria with Italian chefs in Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg. Where does this name come from? "Poddi" is the surname of Luigi, the chef and owner of the establishment. We thought the combination of "Poddi" and "Pizza" was very catchy: both words have 5 letters, both start with the letter "P," and both have a double consonant in the middle.

Our chef, Luigi Poddi, worked at the "Lipen" pizzeria in Italy, owned by Corrado Scalone, the 2011 world pizza champion (https://www.lipen.it/). This pizzeria is located in Northern Italy, in the Lombardy region, in the town of Triuggio (10 minutes by car from Monza and 30 minutes from Milan), and is consistently ranked among the 50 best pizzerias in Italy.

At this pizzeria, Luigi learned how to make the traditional Neapolitan dough for thin-crust pizza with a high, airy crust, which is baked at very high temperatures – over 450 degrees. Thanks to the high baking temperature, the dough bakes perfectly and develops what is known as the "leopard spots." The dough for this type of pizza is proofed and matured for at least 48 hours, which gives it an excellent flavor and makes it easy to digest.

Luigi worked there for about a year. Before that, he owned a bar (which is essentially a place very similar to our coffee shops) in his hometown of Frosinone (in central Italy, south of Rome) and a pizzeria co-owned with his sisters.

There, they made a different type of pizza – the so-called "pizza al taglio" (pizza by the slice). The dough for this pizza is thicker than Neapolitan pizza, and it is sold by the slice by weight.

Corrado also instilled in Luigi a serious approach to selecting ingredients for pizza, so only the freshest and highest quality products are used in Poddi pizza.

In 2017, Luigi opened his first pizzeria in Chelyabinsk in partnership with other entrepreneurs, but he left in late 2019. On February 14, 2020, we opened our own family-run pizzeria in a shopping mall, and a year later, we opened another one, also in a shopping mall in the city of Koпейsk. Since November 25, 2021, "Poddi-Pizza" has been located in the center of Chelyabinsk at 31 Tsvillinga Street.

This year, the Koпейsk branch moved to a new, more spacious and cozy location on the newly built embankment near Smolino Lake, and in March, the first "Poddi-Pizza" franchise opened in Yekaterinburg.

Over the years, we have registered two trademarks – "Poddi-Pizza" and "Lipen" – and started hosting live Italian music evenings and Italian language lessons.

Our pizza in the shape of an eight-pointed star has become our signature dish and has won the hearts of Italian food lovers in the Ural region.

A few months ago, we received important recognition of our work from Italy – our chef was awarded the title of "Ambassador of Taste" by the Italian restaurant association "Ambasciatori del gusto," and all our Italian chefs (Luigi himself and his two sons, Alessio and Gianfranco, who moved to Russia and work in our establishment), as well as the pizzeria itself, were accepted into the Association of Neapolitan Pizzaioli, the largest organization of professional Neapolitan pizza makers in the world.

We always listen carefully to our guests and are very grateful for their feedback, comments, suggestions, ideas, and even criticism, because that's the only way we can grow and develop.

We are sincerely happy that families, children, grandparents, and other generations often come to "Poddi-Pizza," because that means that everyone finds something delicious and comfortable here. That's why we proudly call ourselves a family pizzeria. For example, one wonderful family shared a heartwarming story with us: a couple of years ago, they celebrated their wedding anniversary with us and wished for a baby. They had been dreaming of a child for a long time, but their dream hadn't come true. And a year later, they celebrated their family holiday with us again, and this time, their long-awaited baby was with them. Not long ago, we also hosted a wedding: the couple met at our pizzeria and decided to celebrate the creation of their family with us. These stories fill our hearts with immense joy, because for us, our pizzeria is one big family, where guests and employees become part of it.

Made with love by "Poddi-Pizza"!