Qualitaly_119

OCT. NOV. 2020 VII Tell us more about these carts... The boiled meat cart is our workhorse that has been used for several decades and has passed from hand to hand from Arnaldo to Mauro (my father) to me: three generations. A few years ago, we bought a new cart, but it doesn’t have the same handling as the old one; therefore, the new one stays in the cellar to be used for meals in pairs with the old one. The cart has a certain charm and the appearance of meat from the steaming broth always generates a certain enthusiasm in the diner. Let’s talk about your suppliers... With our suppliers it is a continuous search for the highest quality product. It is not easy today to always have a consistent quality ingredient over time. Few suppliers have been with us for several decades (such as Ristogamma Srl, for example). We try as much as possible to always have high-quality cuts. To keep the Michelin star for so many years. What is your secret? The Michelin Star is very important to us. A recognition that we have carried in our hearts for 61 years, but it also carries a great responsibility. No secrets but, as already mentioned, love, passion and constancy in everything we do is our mantra. Tell us about your family. How do you manage to reconcile work (which engages both of you on a daily basis) with the management of your children? We have 4 children; the oldest Antonio is 21 and lives and works in London. But his dream is to become a singer (he has the passion for music of his great-grandfather Arnaldo, who at the time, around the 60s, entertained clients by playing and singing). Then there is Riccardo, 18 years old, who attends art school and, like his mother, he is creative. On weekends (and when needed) he works in the restaurant, alongside the boiled food cart. He is also passionate about wines, this year we would like him to start the sommelier course. Then, since we both wanted a little girl, after 9 years Leonardo arrived, who is now 9 years old and says he wants to become a cook (take note, a cook like his grandfather and father, not a chef). We didn’t give up and finally Ivette arrived, who today is 3 years old and puts everyone in line with her strong and determined character. One day, entering the kitchen and addressing one of our “sfogline” with her finger pointing, she said to her in an austere tone: “you go and make tagliatelle”. The management of the children is obviously demanding, we live in the restaurant and it becomes difficult to separate the work from the family, it’s all one. We have several photos of our children just a few months old sleeping in the egg shape on the kitchen counter. Let’s tell you briefly what was the educational path of both and how you met... After graduating as a Tourist Operator, I attended Economics and Commerce and graduated in Business Administration. From the age of 19, I started working in the kitchen alongside the cook and my parents, who have traditionally always cooked. In the meantime, I was in charge of the reception of the family hotel and served in the dining room at peak times. After finishing university, I started working full-time in the kitchen and, since then, I have been carrying on the family and Emilian tradition. My wife Ramona graduated in art, for 19 years she worked as a designer in the ceramic and furniture sector. With the birth of Leonardo, she decided to join me in the restaurant. Initially, she worked more in the kitchen, having always had a passion for it, and occasionally in the dining room (at that time there were still the two families in the management of the restaurant and our commitment was less than today). Our story began because we shared a great passion for snowboarding. We fell in love on the snow and, to this day, we still share this passion with the whole family. Do you think the future of catering is somehow in danger considering what we are experiencing today? Certainly many businesses are suffering but catering, for a rich and varied territory like ours, will always be a strong point compared to the rest of the world, an excellence that we must proudly display. How many people work in the restaurant? The restaurant staff consists of 13 permanent employees. Then there are several staff who have a DRT contract; obviously, depending on the needs and the period, these resources may vary. How are you organising yourselves to deal with the emergency during these months? Have you had to change shifts, reduce staff, change purchases... We have adapted according to the current regulations: from disinfection, to the protections on the carts, to the distance between the tables. Certainly, a lot of resources have been invested to bring the premises into compliance. Fortunately, work has resumed well for the moment; therefore, apart from the lockdown period during which we made use of the redundancy fund, there was no need to reduce the number of employees. On the contrary, at the moment we have increased them. The restaurant purchases, on the other hand, have not substantially changed: the attention to ingredients is always the same. Do you think that high-end restaurants are suffering more or less? I believe that the suffering of restaurants does not depend on the low or high end, but on resources and the financial situation in general. If the activity is “healthy”, it is certainly easier to survive difficult times, as this lockdown may have been.