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DIC. GEN. 2017
XI
experience in Italy. I only worked for
a year at La Cacciatore restaurant in
Mezzocorona (TN) apart from a few
other experiences during school. I
left for America when I was 17, so
I can’t say if I kept anything with
me... I do remember I worked with
wonderful people.
What did you do when you first
arrived in the States?
I arrived in 1990, right after
finishing school. I remember I
was supposed to go and work in
Venice at the Harris Bar. A few days
before going there I got a phone
call and they asked me if I wanted
to swap Venice with New York. At
the time, I thought New York was
only something in Disney films, so I
decided to go more for the curiosity
and fascination with the place than
for the job itself. What happened
afterwards is still a dream...
You spent many years at Cipriani’s
Harris Bar. Tell your colleagues
about that experience - many
consider it as a professional
arrival point.
I can’t say it’s been a professional
arrival point for me. Quite the
opposite, actually. It’s been my
first and only experience before
opening Bar Italia. It gave me a solid
experience, not just as a job but for
my life too. It’s been a school for me,
probably the best one a young man
could ever have. It’s still in my heart.
What did you learn there and what
would you like to share?
Well, first of all I learnt to cook and
then I learnt to manage, how to
delegate and how to take important
decisions. I learnt how to manage a
kitchen, from A to Z. What I would
like to pass on to my colleagues is
the meaning of the word ‘respect’
- respect for the people who work
with you and help you day by day to
get certain results.
And then a shot in the dark. You
decided to open your own place.
Tell us when you started to think
you could open a place on your
own, your fears, your certainties...
The opening of Bar Italia was a bit
of a gamble. The investment was
not excessive. Together with other
people who worked in the sector
we opened in 2007, amongst fears
because it is never easy to create
something from scratch. The only
certainty were my hands and the
awareness of trying to do a good job.
Nothing else. A few years later, with
the 2009 crisis, my partners decided
to drop out. But I am stubborn and
always convinced that winning is
possible, so I decided to continue. I
found new partners and from then
on the business has grown and
in 2011 we managed to open the
second Bar Italia in Madison Avenue.
What type of place is it? How has
it changed over time and why did
you call it Bar Italia?
My intention was to create a meeting
point accessible to everyone. I sadly
think that New York is full of lonely
people. I remember my first years in
the Big Apple as a time of great work
but also great loneliness. This is why
I created this welcoming place and
I think I did it well. The name was
inspired by the Caffè Italia in Borgo
Valsugana. The bar’s owner, who
sadly passed away a few years ago,
has been a kind of ‘father’ for us
young local lads when we started to
go out at night until the early hours
in the morning.