Pam Kragen writes about Semola. This weekend, the Milanese trio behind the popular Pacific Beach pizzeria Ambrogio15 will open a new restaurant that its owners hope will encourage San Diegans to not only re-examine Italian cooking but also the concept of fine dining.

Semola, the Ambrogio15 Gastronomy Project will open Saturday evening in the former PrepKitchen restaurant space at 7556 Fay Ave. in La Jolla. The menu — featuring mostly locally sourced ingredients — will mix contemporary pasta dishes created by a Michelin-starred chef in Italy, with gastronomic influences from Argentina, Japan and South Korea. With six chefs and initially just 35 outdoor seats, Semola will offer a fine dining experience at market prices, according to Giacomo Pizzigoni, who co-founded the Milano Five Group in 2016 with partners Andrea Burrone and Luca Salvi.

“Italian cuisine in San Diego has been butchered. We want to show what Italy is right now,” Pizzigoni said. “This will be fine gastronomy in a casual setup. We’re not doing crazy stuff with the food, we’re just elevating it.”

Although the pandemic wasn’t great for Milano Five Group’s ventures at the Little Italy Food Hall, Pizzigoni said it did help the company redefine its place in the San Diego restaurant community. In December, the group closed one of its booths at the Little Italy Hall, the first iteration of Semola, a quick-service pasta bar that struggled to succeed with the repeated pandemic-related shutdowns and loss of tourism.

Meanwhile, the Ambrogio15 location in Pacific Beach had its best year ever, with the community embracing the neighborhood eatery that in 2020 expanded its outdoor seating and its menu to include some cutting-edge takes on pizza. Pizzigoni said both experiences taught him and his partners that the low-end, express route was not the direction they want to move.

Early last year, they signed a consulting partnership with Silvio Salmoiraghi, who helms the Michelin-starred Ristorante Acquerello, a modern Italian restaurant just outside of Milan. Salmoiraghi was a protégé of the late Gualtiero Marchesi, the Milanese chef known as the founder of modern Italian cuisine. Since 2003, Salmoiraghi has launched two Michelin-starred restaurants in Europe.

Pam Kragen, San Diego Union Tribune – May 19th 2021

Article by Candice Woo from Eater San Diego

As we move towards a new culinary year, Italian eatery Ambrogio15 is declaring its ambitions for 2020 — to create the best gourmet pizza experience in the United States. To help reach that goal, co-owners Giacomo Pizzigoni, Andrea Burrone, and Luca Salvi have partnered with a powerhouse team who will be winging their way to San Diego next month. The Milan natives have entered into an agreement with famed chef Silvio Salmoiraghi, whose Ristorante Acquerello, located in the town of Fagnano Olona in the Lombardy region of northern Italy just 20 minutes from Milan, holds a coveted Michelin star.

Founded in Pacific Beach in 2016, Ambrogio15 has expanded to include a quick-service pizza stand at the Little Italy Food Hall as well as fast-casual pasta shop Semola. In addition to an aperitivo bar in La Jolla, the group is also planning another location for Ambrogio15 that is set to debut in April at The Sky Deck at Del Mar Highlands Town Center, a new upscale food collective.

The 35-seat space, styled after Milan landmarks including its main piazza and the dramatic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade, will be the first place that diners can taste the results of the collaboration with the Michelin star restaurant but the new dishes will also make their way to the Pacific Beach location.

Approaching Ambrogio15’s signature pizza dough as a blank canvas, the new pizzas will be developed through a creative process that “pays homage to its Italian roots…and contemporary state-of-the-art Italian cuisine”. Rooted in respect for ‘materia prima’, or the raw material, the chefs will employ both regional Italian products as well as San Diego-sourced ingredients to innovate its pizzas. Salmoiraghi will coordinate with his Ristorante Acquerello collaborators including Paolo Tucci from Piedmont’s University of Gastronomic Sciences and Choi Cheolhyeok, a Korean chef who could also apply some Asian influences to the menu.

Along with its core menu of pizza and salads, the Sky Deck outposts will feature focaccia and other specials cooked in the gas-fired oven. Ambrogio15 has been a champion of natural wine culture in San Diego and the bar will offer close to 100 Italian natural wines.

Michelle Parente from the San Diego Union Tribute has given her verdict about the best pizza in San Diego in 2020. We did not get informed of her article, now she already voted our Prosciutto Crudo Burrata Pizza as her top bite of 2018. So when we saw the article, we knew good things were coming to us.

Here is what Giacomo Pizzigoni had to say about the article and the result:

We literally worked our ass off for the past 4 years to get where we are now. This award means a lot to us!
Our passion and respect for Italian cuisine and gastronomy, for the biodiversity and the culture of our amazing Country, for the raw materials we use, for the pairings we do and for our pizza is the secret of our success! And we could’t have done that without an amazing team. And, most of all, without all of YOU that have been pushing us to get better and better! Now let’s focus on the new Ambrogio, coming soon to the Del Mar. It will bring pizza to a whole new level!

Ambrogio15 Pizza is downright a labor of love. Our cooks that make our dough with attention and let it proof to perfection for 48 hours. Our Chefs that make sure that your Pizza is cooked perfectly every time. The three owners who are in our two locations every day and ensure that everything that goes smoothly. Our manager and servers that have the pleasure to assist you in ordering the perfect dish. They all work extremely hard every day. Have been doing so the past four years. Being named at the top of the list like this is very gratifying.

Screenshot of the Article

Was San Diego the #1 city for Pizza in 2013?

Now, let’s put some background to all this. in 2013, Trip Advisor named San Diego as the #1 city for Pizza in America. And New York #4. New York is supposedly the landmark for Pizza in the American culture. Why? Because of the quantity of Italian immigrants that arrived through Ellis Island at the turn of the last century. This poll caused rage in New York. Insults flying towards other cities who were not even trying to claim supremacy. Instead of rage and supremacy, we will tell the story of three friends from Milano that arrived in the United States through San Diego Airport.

At the turn of the century, or even in 2013 in San Diego, Ambrogio15 was not there. Our three owners opened up the Pacific Beach location Ambrogio15 in 2016. The success of this first location got them to open the second location in Little Italy Food Hall and now for 2020, we will be opening a third location in Del Mar. This Del Mar project is special for us, as to bring even more the Gourmet aspect in Pizza, we are partnering with famous Michelin Star Chef Silvio Saimoiraghi.

Trip Advisor Users Best Restaurant in San Diego

Back to Trip Advisor, and its users, that have been ranking Ambrogio15 as #1 restaurant in San Diego for the past couple years. We have consistent wonderful ratings from our Yelpers, and people reviewing us on Google. We appreciate every single one of you and therefore thank you for eating with us on a regular basis.

Having the support of the community has been great since day one and it is our biggest pride. However, being credited by the press with the Best Pizza in San Diego is an honor. We are very proud to receive it, and therefore we thank Michelle Parente and The Union Tribune. We really appreciate topping this list, and in conclusion, we are doing this for YOU!

Valentine’s Day is an important day for love. Even though there will always be some people that will say that if you really love someone you show it to them year round, and not only on Valentine’s Day. We have to say that we agree, however, on Valentine’s Day, there’s one thing you can get at Ambrogio15 that you won’t get any other day. Heart Shaped Pizza.

Heart Shaped Pizza is a symbol for us, the symbol of our love for all of you that come and dine with us. The love of fresh ingredients, and the love for Pizza!

So on Valentine’s Day, we will give you a couple options to dine in. A La Carte, which is ordering from our regular menu, and we also are offering a Prix Fixe Option.

We also offer our Online Ordering for Take Out if you would rather spend the night at home with candles and more…

Let’s look at the Prix Fixe offerings as there are some specials in there that have been featured in past events. This diner favorites brought their love for pizza to a new level. So let’s look at the options that are available to you on this prix fixe option.

Appetizer

We will have you start with the “Taste of Italy”, a Taglieri meats and cheese assortment. From Bresaola, Speck, Pecorino, Parmigiano and Provola. You are getting some of the best products Italy has to offer. Served with Stone Ground Flour Foccacia and four award winning Frantoio Franci Extra Virgin Olive Oils. This is already a great start, isn’t it.

Valentine’s Day Main Course options

Your next course will be a choice of between four special gourmet pizzas.

Bufala, Porcini and Truffle Oil

Luxury on a pizza. Between the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, the Imported Porcini Mushroom and the white truffle oil, you will be delighted by this Pizza

Margherita That Went Wrong

This one was a fan favorite at our Annual Christmas dinner. This fan favorite is a deconstructed Margherita Pizza with Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a filet of vesuvian red tomato sauce and a basil reduction.

Pomodoro Giallo, Burrata e Prosciutto

Mozzarella Fiordilatte, Yellow San Marzano Tomato Sauce, Prosciutto Crudo di Parma and Imported Burrata Cheese.

Quattro Formaggi, Salsiccia e Pesto di Radicchio

White Pizza with Mozarella Fiordilatte, Gorgonzola, Smoked Provola, Asiago, Sausage and Radicchio Pesto.

Dessert

Our Homemade dessert for this special evening is going to be a Panna Cotta ai Frutto di Bosco e Cicciolato – Homemade Panda Cotta with a berries coulis and chocolate, so you can finish your dinner on a sweeter note.

This Prix Fixe Menu will be $49 per guest before tax and gratuity.

Optional Valentine’s Day Wine Pairings

Now let’s get into the fun part, the optional wine pairing (also available for $49 per guest) to bring elegance and class, followed by passion and that aphrodisiac feeling to be finished with a sweet touch.

All the wines below are Natural Wines

• Rose’ de Noirs Extra Brut Millesime, Dosage Zero Welcome – Very Elegant and Classy
• 2013 Friuli-Venezia Giulia Cave’ Rose’ di Una Notte, Cannonau, Sardegna – For the dreamer in you
• 2017 Amarone della Valpolicella, Fasoli Gino, Veneto – Passionate and Aphrodisiac
• 2014 Passito di Sagrantino, Milziade Antano, Umbria ‘14 – Final Sweet Touch

We wish you all a wonderful Valentine’s Day in advance and looking forward to celebrate it with you.