Sal De Riso

While hotel restaurants helped him hone his craft, Sal was destined for bigger and greater things. In 2000 he opened Passticceria De Riso on the seafront of Minori, supplied only from his bakery up in the mountains in nearby Tramonti. He made Minori a destination for those seeking out some of Italy’s best pastries, all of which are evocative of the scents, tastes and traditions of the Amalfi Coast. If you’re lucky enough to visit the area, a visit to the pasticceria is a must. Try the handmade ice cream in a whole range of never-tried-before flavours, or buy one of Sal’s many cookbooks and bring out the pastry-chef in you.

Sal runs his business with passion and enthusiasm. He believes the secret of his success lies in the ingredients: the best wholewheat flour, directly sourced, local fruit candied in the bakery, and of course nothing unnatural. The panettone are made with a mother yeast over 30 years old and quantities of both egg yolk and butter to help the cake rise and keep it very moist. Did you know that the mark of great panettone is oval bubbles of air, not circular?This shows that it’s been prepared and proved over a long period of time - 60 hours in the case of a De Riso Pannettone. It’s no surprise that Salvatore De Riso is one of only 70 Pastry Chef Masters in Italy (Accademia Maestri Pasticceri Italiani) and one of the 25 masters of the mother yeast. It’s no wonder his cakes, pastries and biscuits are so delicious.

When we first visited the Sal De Riso Bakery in Tramonti, we turned a corner of the room and almost walked into a wedding cake being finished for delivery that morning. One hundred and eighty Delizia al Limone (a bomb of a cake with lemon and mascarpone) tiered, stacked and decorated for a lucky bride and groom and their guests. Don’t you think that beats a fruit cake? Salvatore told us that he ships wedding cakes like this all over the world. So if you fancy the taste of Italy’s Amalfi Coast at your special event, please get in touch with us. We can help make some delicious magic happen.