Pezz de Pane

Bread first, from a baker who came home

Roberta Pezzella opened her first bakery of her own in her home town of Frosinone on 22 February 2021, after more than fifteen years of travelling, studying and refining bread, including work alongside Gabriele Bonci and Heinz Beck. The name puts her nickname, PezZ, in front of de Pane, and the priority is exactly that plain: bread is the centre, not a sideline. The work rests on lievito madre, natural fermentation, cereal flours and ancient grain varieties, and the whole bakery follows a vegetarian and vegan philosophy, which is unusual in a category where eggs, butter and dairy run through almost every counter.

A laboratorio with a shop attached

Pezz de Pane works as both laboratorio and bottega, closer to a working bread lab with a counter than to a dining room. The scale is small and modern, a micro-panificio rather than a large commercial forno, and the production culture is the reason to go. Pizza is part of the daily identity rather than an evening add-on: simple, light and served through the day. Focaccia with salted ricotta sits on the savoury side, while cakes, cookies and the rest of the bakes round out the case. What holds it together is Pezzella’s decision to bring a practice built elsewhere back to her own town and apply it without compromise, which is why the bakery reads as a personal project rather than a format.

What to take from the counter

Order bread first, since that is the whole argument of the place: loaves built on lievito madre and ancient grains, fermented slowly and baked to be eaten over days rather than minutes. Then take a slice of the pizza, which is made light and simple and is available through the day rather than saved for the evening. The focaccia with salted ricotta is the savoury bake to add if you want something to eat immediately, and the cakes and cookies are the quiet end of the range. The recognition backs up the counter: Tre Pani from Gambero Rosso in the Pane e Panettieri d’Italia guide is that guide’s top mark and places Pezz de Pane among Italy’s strongest bakeries, while inclusion in 50 Top Pizza shows the pizza is more than a side project.