Antica Osteria, the art of hospitality and family roots

PIEVE DI SOLIGO. “My father’s first lesson was:” Here we speak in dialect “, explaining that even in this way you can taste the territory”, he remembers Umberto Perenzin retracing his professional history at the Antica Osteria in via Brandolini. «My family opened this place in 2003», she explains, «when I was still going to school and on weekends I helped out as much as I could. But then, after finishing high school, I decided to work here, sure that my dad would have been able to teach me a lot ». In fact, Papa Giovanni was for a long time a waiter and right-hand man, as well as a great friend, of the almost legendary Lino Toffolina chef who has been able to write memorable pages of cuisine and national hospitality in his Locanda in Solighetto, a few hundred meters from the current Osteria dei Perenzin.

Belonging to the Quartier del Piave is profound in Giovanni: “I was born in Rolle, a fairytale town, I worked for 35 years in the most beautiful restaurant in the world and now I have found a new and satisfying dimension here, with my family” , he proudly states. «When I reached retirement age, I wanted to change my life and become a farmer, but luckily I followed my mother’s advice and gave up, also because I was offered the management of numerous premises. To this, which had been closed for a couple of years, with mine wife Carla we wanted to give the appearance of a welcoming but informal tavern, where everyone can feel at home ». “We have this aspect very much at heart,” he stresses Umberto. “So much so that Dad’s second lesson was:” Remember that a restaurant that works well is one where families get together. ” And welcoming at the same table several generations who share the important moments of life is always a great satisfaction for us. It is as if our house were theirs too ».

A house furnished with great attention to detail, between stone walls and ceiling beams, great works of the friend Lino Dinetto who also made the ceramic mats, ancient wooden statues of saints and Madonnas collected by Giovanni and Carla and the artistic Murano glass of another friend, Dino Bugno: an eclectic and precious whole that characterizes the three rooms and which is also reflected in the careful furnishings of the garden, in the shade of centuries-old lime trees.

A house where the menu of the day is strictly spoken “Because this too is a wise suggestion from dad”, Umberto explains: “Menus and price lists are everywhere, while here customers find people who tell and illustrate what cuisine offers, according to season and tradition ». The highlight of the menu is, invariably, the spit that Giovanni, awarded the title of “Master of the Spit” by the association of the same name, personally supervises the large fireplace that dominates one of the rooms: «We must prepare it every day, in all seasons, both for lunch and dinner “, he says:” Even if our cuisine is also much more, and our chef Nicola Balliana he is very good and imaginative, the spit remains essential for most. On the other hand, it is a preparation that requires six hours of cooking, careful preparation and continuous attention, therefore very difficult to make at home. And then, as is well known, it is the dish that characterizes all the cuisine of the Pedemontana, so it is also logical, and for us very flattering, that customers always expect to find it ».

Chef Nicola, who in the kitchen uses the help of Federico and, but only for confectionery, also by Umberto, he describes the overall offer as follows: «We try to tell the territory also in the dish, with dishes according to tradition even if with a pinch of modernity. We also like to let the many tourists, including many foreigners who are finally returning in large numbers, taste local customs and products, ranging from mushrooms to wild herbs, from cooking meats “in tecia” to homemade pasta ” .

Mrs Carla oversees everything, thanks to a long previous experience in the commercial sector: «I have been married to Giovanni for 42 years and have worked with him for almost twenty. I am very proud of what she has achieved and how she lives her work with great love. And they are even more so than the passion that our son Umberto now shares with him, willing to continue the family tradition with great enthusiasm ».