Dusseldorf The new “11:11 Uhr” in the old town has eight square meters of pizza, pasta and arancini. Mother and son run the shop. Finished products are avoided.
He is not a new snack bar in the old town. “This is the smallest pizzeria in town,” says Adrian Mehr, taking a pizza with a diameter of 50 centimeters out of the oven. He is new to Bolkerstrasse. He and his mother, Fariba Katiraee, recently opened the eight square meter “11:11 Uhr” shop.
“Small but powerful” could be the motto of Mehr, because the trained system catering specialist wants not only to distinguish himself from the competition, but to stand out. He reports that he doesn’t use any ready-made products – only the pasta is not homemade – and that the Neapolitan pizza dough rests for at least 48 hours before being topped in the oven. Even better would be three days. “We have a different concept than the others, we offer the pizza as a slice for 2.70 euros,” says the 32-year-old. Also on the menu: pasta in pasta boxes, pizza rolls, various types of bread and even arancini. “And we always try to offer our guests a vegetarian dish as well,” says Mehr.
He grew up in Hamburg and his stepfather, who is Italian, gave him a love for Italian cuisine. In general, the 32-year-old comes from a gastro family, his brothers help on the weekend on Bolkerstrasse. “Because gastronomy is a difficult industry and you never have the weekends off, for example, my parents didn’t want me to go into gastronomy at first. But I like it,” he says. The lively old town of Düsseldorf reminds him of his time in Hamburg. And why is the little pizzeria even called “11:11 am”? “It has nothing to do with carnival, as some think,” says Mehr. It has something to do with astrology, it is a number from the realm of the supernatural and minor miracles. “And we believe in small miracles,” says Mehr. The “11:11 Chicken & Beef” in Langenfeld also belongs to the family.
information 11:11, Bolkerstrasse 57, open daily.
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