For the first time in the history of the Gambero Rosso Pastry Chefs & Pastry Shops Guide, Sardinia has won the highest award: the Tre Torte. This award goes to Piero Ditrizio, 37, a pastry chef of Apulian origins who, since 2020, has made Cagliari his home and workshop, becoming in just a few years one of the most respected names in pastry making not only on the island, but also, and above all, nationwide. His establishment is now one of the 35 best pastry shops in Italy, and the first ever on the island to reach the top of the Gambero Rosso rankings. "When I received the news, I was speechless; I really wasn't expecting it," he says. Then came the first phone call: to his father, also a pastry chef. "He's a man of few words, but I just had to look into his eyes to understand how proud and happy he was."
A talent built over time
It's hard to imagine anyone in Cagliari who hasn't heard of his maritozzi, so different from the Roman tradition, yet so perfect that they've won over everyone. Ditrizio's story, however, begins far from the island, in Barletta, in his family's pastry shop, where he spent his free time helping out in the lab. After training at the Boscolo Étoile Academy, he also gained international experience in Lyon, London, and Singapore. In 2020, during the height of lockdown, he opened a shop in Cagliari with his wife Valentina Fais: a successful gamble that transformed the face of the city's pastry shop in just a few years. In 2022, he was named, again by the Gambero Rosso Guide, an Emerging Pastry Chef of Italy, and today, winning the Tre Torte award crowns a journey built on passion and precision. "Perfection is never achieved, but as long as you chase it, it means you can always improve": this is the advice he always gives to himself, but also to the many young people who work on his team, and it is also the motivation he intends to follow after this important milestone.
During today's awards ceremony at Palazzo di Varignana, near Bologna, Ditrizio shared his excitement with his team and the city that welcomed him: "Being here in front of so many pastry greats is always an honor for me and for us. I want to thank my team, both those working back and front, for everything they do every day. Having a young and trusted group is wonderful, because only together can we truly build." He then expressed his personal thanks: "Thank you to Gambero Rosso for this great recognition, and thank you to my wife Valentina, who isn't here with me because she's pregnant: our son will be born in a month, and she is an incredible force to me. And finally, thank you to Cagliari and Sardinia: it's thanks to the trust people show us every day that we've come this far." Also and above all for all the customers, who have somehow been part of its success: "Sardinia has given me trust and warmth, this recognition is also thanks to those who choose our desserts every day, to the customers who accompany us every step of the way."
