Among the historic chocolate and pastry shops of the great Turin tradition. It is Pfatisch: certainly the most loved. It returns now under a new leadership, but bringing with it the sweetness of a glorious past
The pastry shop was founded in 1915, thanks to the master Gustavo Pfatisch, of Bavarian origin, born in Fossano in 1887.
Pfatisch for all the Turinese was and is synonymous with tradition and quality products. Of tradition of the city.
A beautiful story that risked ending forever if it wasn't for Francesco Ciocatto, which in the fall of 2019 decides to take over the pastry shop, starting with the company lease.
We had a chat with him, to let him tell us about the present, the future and Pfatisch's new projects.
Tell us how you got here.
"Pfatisch's business had not been able to take off for some time, many expenses, difficult management, years of ups and downs. We started with the company lease last fall. Then the business was declared bankrupt, in the meantime we continued to work.
In April 2020 the announcement came out, in full lockdown, you can imagine: we made the offer, but we were the only ones present. We believed it. And now we are here.
When did you start work again after the first lockdown?
At the end of April. Things were starting to go well, the shop has a lot of potential, it is one of the historic places in Italy, known and appreciated not only by the Turinese.
During the lockdown we remained open, but only with delivery service, not even take-out for coffee or pastry.
In the meantime, the old customers have returned, the work has increased, so much so that I have taken over all the employees who worked here, those of the old management. In total we are now 9. But we plan to increase.
When did your job as a pastry chef start?
I worked at Gerla, a historic pastry and chocolate shop in Turin (a stone's throw from the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II), I was very young and I loved my work very much.
In 1987 I bought the shop that saw me grow professionally. I was 22 and had a great passion: the desire to continue the work of my two masters, who after many years of work no longer felt like continuing.
I have held the pastry shop for almost 30 years; I sold my shares in 2014, after 27 years.
If I think back to when we started, in 1987, we were 3; when I sold Gerla there were almost 60 employees in total. Important numbers.
After the sale of Gerla I devoted myself to consulting for some time, especially in the field of chocolate.
New projects on the horizon?
In recent years I have been working on a new project that I care very much about, a product that goes through history: that of the gianduiotto cut with a spatula, just as it was done in 1865, the year of its birth.
Currently, most of the gianduiotti are extruded or made with special molds.
In reality, the real gianduiotto is made with a knife, a special spatula. A new patent for a semi-automatic machine, which allows us to make small gianduiotti, about 5-6 grams, in the original form. It will also have a special wrapping.
The project will see the light, we hope, between March and April of 2021; but it could also slip in autumn 2021. Obviously Covid permitting.
How do you see the world of pastry in Turin and beyond?
In my opinion the world of pastry is evolving a lot. A lot of work is done on single portions, slices, packaging, the aesthetics of the cakes. There is less work, however, on the traditional one, which in recent years has been put a little in the background.
In my opinion we will return more and more to traditional pastries, to the more classic cakes, to the tray of pastries, among the most popular desserts on Sundays: they like it because it pleases everyone, many different little tastings.
Our customers love traditional pasta trays, cakes for 2-3-5 people, not five single portions.
People look in admiration at these designer creations, but then buy classic cakes and trays of assorted pastries, just the right size. In the seventies, pastries were practically single portions, perhaps a little excessive.
We work a lot with the classics. Among Pfatish's flagships is the Festivo, one of the best-selling cakes: it is made up of two discs of meringue, chocolate chantilly and puffed gianduja, almost a cloud of chocolate.
It has been produced for 50 years and has been one of the most popular cakes ever for 50 years. And it is the only one we make in single portions, there are many singles who ask for it!
We are resuming all the old Pfatisch pastry tradition, thanks also to the two historic pastry chefs who have returned to work here. The recipe book is a precious compendium, with many classics to rediscover.
We are expanding all the savory pastry, which is more than 60 years old, an old Pfatisch tradition. They were truly precursors of the times, they anticipated the fashions of finger food; mignon, they already made them in the fifties.
Pfatisch, it's not just pastry, but also chocolate, right?
The chocolate here was and is traditional: under the shop there is a real chocolate factory, the laboratory, the old original machinery, which we are trying to fix for another nice project, which at the moment I cannot reveal.
Many historical recipes, pralines, chocolates, dragées, truffles, gianduiotti. And the gianduia cream, in the classic or dark version.
You just have to go and discover the latest news from Pfatisch in via Sacchi 42.
In compliance with the anti Covid regulations, the shop will remain closed to the public; it will be possible to order the products by telephone and go to collect or request home delivery.
Telephone 0115683962, opening hours 10-13 15.30-18.
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