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Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

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It may not be the Billionaire on the Costa Smeralda, but this restaurant is also a great meeting place for VIPs, among other things more down to earth, nice and 60 minutes drive from Rome, on the coast of Santa Severa. The Pino al mare restaurant has been for over half a century a point of reference for the Romans, more or less illustrious, who love to escape from the capital to enjoy a day on the beach away from the chaos and in the name of good food, which draws from traditional recipes and raw materials from local fish auctions. Thus, to the sound of seafood salads, spaghetti with sea urchins or cockles and fried squid and prawns, the parterre at the tables of the Pino al mare restaurant is always full of names, from the actors Willem Dafoe, Giorgio Pasotti and Anna Falchi, to musicians Giuliano Sangiorgi, Niccolò Fabi and Alessandra Amoroso; and, again, from the writer Giancarlo De Cataldo to the columnist Vittorio Sgarbi, from the face of Le Iene Enrico Lucci to the footballer Alessandro Florenzi, from the manager of As Roma Vito Scala to the Italian politics Federica Mogherini and Maria Rosaria Rossi, but also the journalists Mattia Feltri, Annalena Benini (his wife), Pierluigi Diaco and Marco Travaglio, the director of Rai 1 Stefano Coletta and the deputy director Giovanni Anversa, the conductor Beppe Convertini and the radio speaker Rudy Zerbi (to whom a plate in paper is also entitled, the fried fish and vegetables).


“Some of them, such as Lucci, Sangiorgi and Feltri, are historical customers” says Sabrina Quartieri, one of the owners of the company that owns the structure, together with uncles and cousins ​​of the third and fourth generation of the Quartieri family. “They come to visit us with their families, because ours is the typical management where it is easy to feel at home. In addition, the cuisine is the classic one of fish that was once eaten, simple and genuine. Others have instead happened thanks to word of mouth and the fact that last summer those who lived in Rome, with the restrictions due to Covid-19, could not move too much. For us it was an opportunity to get noticed by those who did not know us. In addition, the Castle of Santa Severa hosted a cultural review and therefore some of the protagonists of the evenings, ate with us before returning home. Once ”says Sabrina“ Sgarbi arrived late in the evening, we were a bit worried because we were warned that he is not a lover of fish dishes. Instead, when he sat down at the table, he was very helpful and relied on the advice of my cousin Simone who enticed him with some of the most daring dishes for combinations on the menu ”.

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Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

Not all stars are twinkling in this age of Covid. Sabrina Quartieri is passionate about cooking and catering, but she is also and above all a travel journalist, forced to stand still for a while; so, now that she can’t move, she threw herself headlong into the family business to lend a hand, inheriting the passion from her father Antonio, who is no longer here, but who has dedicated his life to his Pino to the sea: “It is my way of being close to him and feeling him next to him, here everything speaks to me about him, this was his home and he would have given everything to see me by his side. Life is strange, because only today that I no longer have my dad, I can’t help but give Pino al mare a part of my time. I also owe it to my aunts and cousins, who have always been here to carry on a rewarding but also sacrificing activity ”, confides Sabrina with slightly excited eyes.

Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

Today the restaurant is a point of reference for Roman customers and beyond, and this is a source of pride for those who carry it out every day. Its history is that of a reverse emigration, from Lodi to the North, to Central Italy: Itala and Giuseppe (called “Pino”, hence the name of the restaurant), left for the South in the post-war period to build a new life, focusing everything on what until the 1980s was a cathedral in the desert, which however gave refreshment to vacationers year after year, growing in size and credibility. The structure inherited from grandparents and great-grandparents, just renovated to face – hopefully – the new summer season just around the corner, consists of a hotel on three levels with 57 rooms for a total of 136 beds, a sea view restaurant and a beach, ideal for families (also because the water is not deep) and for gourmets who love fish. The view from the bay, which is the natural view of Pino to the sea, helps, because in the distance you can see a medieval castle in the water that towers over a strip of land that, at the time of the Etruscans, housed the ancient port of Pyrgi .

Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

“The ownership is multiple, between uncles and cousins ​​partners” explains Ivan Bosco, who tirelessly takes care of all the administrative aspects of the hotel-restaurant, thanks to the lessons learned from the many years in which he has supported his grandmother Itala and his uncle Antonio, and the support still today of his mother Rossella and aunt Maddalena, two other owners. “8 families depend on this company. But our peculiarity – and perhaps also our strength – is that Pino al mare, since it was born, has been the home of all those who work there, and each of them is now willing to make sacrifices. We spend here every day, we are always open, except for a couple of weeks between Christmas and the Befana to rest. This has created a nice spirit of solidarity over the years, and we are making all possible efforts not to send away any of our employees, who are 15 in the winter and reach a maximum of about 30 during the summer season. Of course, with the continuous closures we have been forced to use the layoffs often, but we hope that this lockout until early May is really the last, also because an inoperative structure still faces fixed costs (such as utilities and maintenance costs ), in the face of non-receipts due to closure “. Ivan Bosco continues: “When Covid arrived we immediately realized that we would lose most of the proceeds. First of all, the hotel was affected, which until the end of 2019 had worked in the summer with mostly Roman customers and in the low season with continental European groups. From France, Switzerland, Poland and Germany in spring and autumn until last year, tourists came here to visit the capital, who however preferred to stay overnight outside the city by the sea and away from the chaos. We were also competitive for our advantageous rates ”, he concludes.

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Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

All this has been lost, with heavy repercussions on 2020 turnover. But the pandemic, for Pino al mare, was also a lever for local tourism: despite the reduced restaurant tables, and the umbrellas reduced by 30% to respect distances, a good job was done last summer. “Before entering the red zone” explains Sabrina Quartieri “we were able to work even during the week on weekdays, because having lunch outside was one of the few occasions normally granted. Therefore, our customers also came from Monday to Friday, and not just on weekends. Obviously, the possibility of eating at a distance and in the open air helped ”.

Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

In Pino al Mare, the Easter restrictions and now those imposed until early May, did not surprise that much: “ We were resigned, after the measures already taken last Christmas and given the tighter grip of the virus, due to to the greater aggressiveness of the variants; now – says Simone Vincenzi, also from the family and manager of the restaurant – the impression is that also in 2021 we will work to limit the damage. We will do our best, but we are aware that tourism will only be able to restart with a serious vaccination policy. Before being entrepreneurs we are fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. We are conscientious citizens and we want to help Italy return to true normality by doing our part. We will face this year for what we will be allowed, hoping to really start again in the spring of 2022, returning to welcome foreign tourists as well ”, Simone concludes. A spirit shared by the other jewel of the family restaurant always in Santa Severa, but a few meters further towards the castle: Isola del Pescatore, where they work together with the administrator of the Fratelli Quartieri company Fabio Quartieri, his son Paolo and grandchildren. Marco and Stefano.

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Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

Even the rest of the coast of Santa Severa, for now, does not throw in the towel: at the starting blocks there are kiosks, establishments, restaurants and other historic hotels, waiting for the summer to have a little respite from the virus, as it is. happened last year. Without detracting from the other local activities, Pino al mare – if only for the years of ‘profession’ that it boasts on the coast of Northern Lazio, well over 60 – it requires a little more attention and, once again, will try to offer refreshment to patrons from the province of Rome and beyond, VIPs and non-VIPs, “whom we thank for supporting us in this difficult year”, says entrepreneur Fabio Quartieri, on behalf of the whole family he heads, adding: “The commitment and passion will continue to distinguish the Quarters, also in honor of the two brothers Roberto and Antonio who are no longer there”.

Santa Severa, in the trenches to resist the pandemic

Simone Vincenzi, narrator of Pino al mare’s menu dishes, concludes: “The protagonist of the coming months will always be that fish-based menu which is synonymous with quality but which above all knows how to reassure. Because this is what we seek in uncertain times like those of the pandemic. It is a teaching that a master of haute cuisine gave me: the three-star chef Heinz Beck, who came to visit us after having lunch on Isola del Pescatore, and approved our menu, classic and traditional “. Among the specialties on the menu, the most popular are the raw mixed fish, the tagliolini with cheese, pepper and fish, the fried food, the local catch of the day and the wild herbs that smell of the territory. Last but not least, among the desserts, tiramisu is very popular, also in the persimmon variant.

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