How an Italian opened a pizzeria in… the Caucasus!

Seven years ago, a new attraction appeared in the city of Nartkala in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, a pizzeria called ‘Piccola Italia’. It was opened by an Italian named Daniele Proietti, together with his wife, Zalina, a native Kabardian. 

They met and got married in Italy and then moved to Zalina's homeland together. Daniele has learned Russian well, while his wife speaks Italian so fluently and looks so much like an Italian herself that, even in her native Kabardino-Balkaria, she is often confused with an Italian woman.

Opening business in Russia

Daniele is from Spoleto, an ancient city with a rich history. He always dreamed of opening his own pizzeria, but it seemed to him that this was impossible in Italy: bureaucracy, taxes, large monopolies and many other problems. 

“And here is freedom! Russia is a magical country for business,” says the Italian. “I didn't have any problems with licenses, there weren't many checkup commissions. If you work according to the law, if you have a business idea and a desire to work, everything is possible here. And everything will be fine!”

Daniele and Zalina do absolutely everything themselves, they have no hired workers. ‘Piccola Italia’ opens at noon, but the owners are already there by 8 am, or even earlier: they prepare the dough, cut the ingredients and make a small hall ready for the reception of customers.

Daniele only uses local flour, water, salt and yeast. Tomatoes, olive oil and artichokes are, however, ordered from Italy and the cheese comes from Belarus: “A very good one," praises the Italian.

Dreams of his own pizzeria

Daniele is a teacher by education and worked at an experimental school and then took up the family construction business. His grandfather and father are professional builders and they had their own company.

“I learned how to cook pizza from my friend, a ‘pizzaiolo’ with 30 years of experience. He taught me that real Neapolitan pizza can only be made in a Neapolitan wood-fired oven. And we brought such an oven here,” Daniele boasts.

Zalina says that the locals immediately fell in love with her husband and began to offer their help and even bring firewood for the stove as a gift.

Daniele's pizzeria is adored not only by locals, but also by people from other regions and even foreign tourists. And everyone keeps saying, "Pizza is better than in Italy!"

Italian dad in the Caucasus

Daniele's father, Marcello, also lives there; he came after his son. As a professional builder, he helped design the pizzeria.

At the age of 80, Marcello has settled down well in the Caucasus: He bought a bicycle and now, he tours around the area. On Sundays, he goes to the market. He writes the price on a piece of paper and haggles with the sellers. And if something doesn’t work out, he calls his son and hands the phone to the person he was talking to. 

So, the Italian dad introduced his son and his wife to the whole city and, by the time ‘Piccola Italia’ opened, everyone in Nartkala knew about their family!

The full version of this article was first published in Russian in the 'Nation' magazine.