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The pizza empire is in Latiano: the creations of Luppolo&Farina are a pilgrimage destination from all over Italy
Highlighted by Gambero Rosso and Identità Golose, the pizzeria run by Cristiano Taurisano and Davide Barile wins over the most discerning palates. The credit goes to a careful selection of ingredients. Even turnip tops become poetry when paired with Cantabrian anchovies.
Latiano, a small town in the province of Brindisi, known for its museums (there are as many as six scattered throughout the town) and the Sagra dilli Stacchioddi, is among the new pilgrimage destinations for the most refined gastronauts. Here, far from the noise of the coast and more renowned centers, people have been coming from everywhere for several years now just to sit down at Luppolo&Farina, a place that has become a cult destination for lovers of Neapolitan-style pizza.
They turn out memorable pizzas. Behind the open counter is Cristiano Taurisano, a young pizzaiolo with a striking stage presence. Broad shoulders, large hands, a kind gaze, and eyes that light up when he talks about his creations and his constant research. He moves swiftly between the two ovens, setting the pace for his assistant pizzaiolos.
He never stops studying, driven by an innate desire to improve and refine himself, for the pleasure of surprising customers who always expect smart new ideas from him. He is a young self-taught talent who, almost overnight, decided to become a pizzaiolo, encouraged by his partner Davide Barile, who believed in the pizzeria from the very beginning and bet on it.
And he—who between the two appears to be the one with his feet most firmly on the ground—was actually the more visionary in betting on Cristiano’s abilities, even though until then Cristiano had never really thought about running a real pizzeria. Today it ranks among the best in Puglia, with two slices in the Gambero Rosso guide and listed among the seven selected by Identità Golose.
Perhaps it’s thanks to his well-hydrated doughs, born of continuous evolution, which undergo a long maturation and produce pizzas with a high, airy crust—like Alice in the Meadow of Wonders (€10): a white pizza with a double texture created by turnip-top cream and pieces left whole, combined with fiordilatte mozzarella.
And then, added after baking, Cantabrian anchovies and friscuss, the Salento couscous, which evokes the sensation of a plate of orecchiette with turnip tops sautéed with oil, garlic, and chili pepper—the very aroma from which it takes its inspiration. His pizzas are in constant evolution, never boring and always contemporary. They carry the flavor of identity—certainly territorial—but they also know how to look beyond borders, proposing what he calls the “good kilometer”: top-quality raw materials from other regions and countries.
And then, from Spain, comes superb cod—the finest in the world—to which he dedicates the Ràfols (€15), a burst of Mediterranean flavors that speaks unmistakably of the South. It carries the sun of Vesuvius in the fresh PDO pomodorino del Piennolo, with its slightly tangy taste, joined by the sweet savoriness of semi-dried cherry tomatoes, fleshier and almost confit-like, preserved in extra virgin olive oil and flavored with oregano and garlic.
Then come Taggiasca olives and local capers. Finally, the cod, cooked sous-vide at low temperature, lightly dusted with breadcrumbs during baking to evoke a breaded finish, and rings of IGP Montoro onion, coated in semolina and fried. What can one say—a masterpiece that needs no further additions; the palate will have the final word.
A new feature is the tasting menus with three or five samples: Memories of the 1980s (€20), featuring traditional pizzas such as Capricciosa, Margherita, and Spicy Salami, plus a small Italian-style appetizer. Evolution (€25) respects the seasonality of ingredients and changes from time to time. Finally, Southern Contaminations (€25) offers mouthwatering delicacies made with ingredients from afar, from Silana potatoes to ’nduja, from dried Campanian onion to guanciale from Martina Franca. It’s up to you to discover the rest of Cristiano’s pizzas, beyond the beaten path of the usual routine.
