Speaking the language of true love
Italian master-baker Piero De Vallier didn’t have a clue what Cliona Swan was saying, yet their hearts understood, writes Andrea Smith
WHEN Piero De Vallier and Cliona Swan first met in a pub in London in 2002, his lack of English led to some comical misunderstandings. He thought she was German and aged 17, when she was actually a 25-year-old Irishwoman, so she had to put him straight. They were only chatting because Piero’s friend was trying to score with Cliona’s friend, but as she sat there “blathering away” to a largely uncomprehending Piero, Cliona decided he was cute.
“I liked his height and he is very friendly and easy-going, but I was won over when he said he was a baker,” she laughs. Piero thought Cliona was very “smiley and friendly”, and they both spoke French so that helped initially with communication. “I liked her lovely blue eyes and nice teeth,” he says, “She was very blonde, and for an Italian, a blonde girl is very different.”
Cliona and Piero kissed that night and began seeing each other casually, not expecting much to come of it. When her friend had to pull out of their planned Italian holiday, Piero invited her to go there with him and they had a ball. Things got serious and the following year, they decided to move to Ireland for a fresh start, partly because Piero’s dad Bruno had just passed away. They got engaged in 2005 and married in 2007 in Slovenia, and now have three daughters.
Piero, 43, was born in Treviso, and his mum, Maria Lucia, is half Slovenian. He has two older brothers, and his dad worked as an accountant while his mum stayed home with the boys. His brothers still live in Treviso and they take care of his mum, who has Alzheimer’s. When he was 16, Piero began working in a bakery full-time and completed a diploma in baking. He also completed a compulsory year in the army at 19, and worked as a kitchen chef during that time. He left for London when he was 26, and met Cliona two years later.
Cliona, 41, is from Stillorgan and is the fourth of Mary and Des Swan’s five children. Her mum taught drama while her dad was a professor of education at UCD. Cliona completed a degree in French and anthropology at NUI, Maynooth, and then went to Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent to do her teacher-training course. She was teaching French when she met Piero, and when they moved to Ireland, they went to Galway initially. She was unable to get a full-time job there, so she did special needs resource teaching and taught English as a foreign language. Master-baker Piero worked for Griffin’s Bakery, and says Jimmy Griffin was his best boss ever.
“It was in Galway that I realised how much of a good guy Piero is, because he wasn’t pushing me to find full-time work or stingy with money,” says Cliona. “He was always encouraging and supportive.”
After a year in Galway, they moved back to Dublin and Cliona went to UCD to do a psychology degree. She got a full-time teaching job at St Andrew’s in Booterstown, which she loves. She helps Piero from home and takes care of Julie (seven), Maria (five) and Roisin (three).
“Having kids has made us stronger,” says Piero. “You see other qualities in each other and become less selfish. Cliona is a very good mother, and she is very patient and calm, which she gets from her parents. I grew up in a typical Italian house with loads of drama, and my family is the opposite because they shout and are crazy.”
After three years working for Blazing Salads, Piero decided to launch a business making pizza bases in 2007, The Artisan Pizza Company. Getting a business off the ground during the recession was tough, but he slowly got his products into retail outlets. “My mum is like our unpaid PR person,” Cliona laughs. “She went to all the shops she knew telling them her sonin-law was Italian and was making real Italian pizza bases, and she got us into our first few shops.”
The business operated from Smithfield initially, and then one of Piero’s customers, James Lawlor Butchers, was looking for someone to rent the unit in the back of his shop. Piero moved in two years ago, then he bought a unit in Rathcoole and now has a team of nine people. His products include three-packs of 11inch pizza bases, and a four-pack of mini bases. “We have a very particular and unique product, that is light, digestible and has an unusual nutty flavour,” says Cliona. “Piero carefully sources all of his ingredients and manages everything to sure that the quality remains consistent.” Working from home, Cliona helps with branding, packaging, PR, marketing, the website and social media. The bases are available in most Supervalus, Tesco and Dunnes Stores, and in independent butchers and shops. As a couple with a business, the downside is that you are always tired and have little downtime, says Piero. Cliona says he is very hard-working and a real perfectionist, but very honest and genuine: “The kids bring out the best in him, and he has a lot of fun with them, whereas I’m a bit more serious,” she says.
“They are completely crazy about him and his pizzas. We’re going to France for 10 days soon, and it will be the first holiday abroad where the girls have had their daddy with them for more than two days. They keep saying how excited they are that Daddy can’t just go back to work, because he needs to take an aeroplane.”
www.pizzadapiero.ie
‘Cliona was very blonde, and for an Italian, a blonde girl is very different’