At Marcandole, fish cuisine also has human value

Roberta Rorato has been running the Salgareda restaurant since 1993. For the 30th anniversary of the restaurant she thinks of “a new dress”

SALGAREDA. “Giving value to people”. Roberta Rorato he has no doubts about his priority as owner of the Marcandole restaurant in Salgareda. “And I don’t mean value in the economic sense, which is out of the question because work must always be adequately paid and I feel a lot of responsibility towards those who work with me. I intend to give value to what people are and do, whether they are collaborators, one-night customers or regulars, suppliers that I all know personally – with particular attention to small businesses in the area – and with whom I have relationships for up to thirty years. I always try to pay close attention to each one through listening, involvement, understanding, comparison. And it is a behavior that not only satisfies me humanly, but that has always repaid me, even in times of difficulty ».

Roberta was in her early twenties when, in 1993, she started managing Marcandole together with her younger brother Alessandro: today he is recognized as one of the reference points for fish cuisine in the Veneto region and beyond, and on the occasion of his thirtieth birthday “we will give him a whole new suit with a major renovation that will begin shortly”, he announces without revealing much of more.

Although coming from a family of restaurateurs, it was in the field that the two brothers were formed, as Roberta recalls: «It was our father who warned us that Marcandole was for sale and urged us to take the opportunity. We were very young and, even though we grew up in the restaurant business, we had to deal with the complexity of our own management and with the need to impart “our” personality to the restaurant. It was an exciting and tiring challenge at the same time, but it has led us to results that I am extremely satisfied with ». A story of growing successes, that of the Marcandole of the Rorato brothers, which has recently undergone a substantial turning point: “Since last year Alessandro has chosen the more intimate dimension of the tavern” La Bersagliera “, the historic family restaurant in nearby Romanziol, next to to which our other brother, Nerio, manages the restaurant and hotel of the same name. A choice also dictated by his desire to help dad Giancarlowho had now turned eighty and had no intention of retiring.

And right there, in “his” tavern with adjoining “caseìn” dad suddenly passed away last August: a huge loss for us and for the whole country, but above all for mom. Santina who has always been by his side and who can now count on Alessandro’s proximity ». But Roberta was not left alone to manage the restaurant in Salgareda. After having had to face the painful death, at the age of 37, of her husband Agostino, the consequent responsibilities of mother of the very young Edoardo and Gaia and the complex management of her business, she now has a new partner, as well as her husband: Roberto Bardellaalso a restaurateur and cooking teacher at the “Cornaro” in Jesolo.

«I have lived through terribly difficult moments», she admits «which have made me stronger and stronger and to overcome which I had to concentrate a lot above all on the efficient management of the restaurant without ever forgetting to be close to my children. Then, luckily, I found Roberto, whom I knew superficially for work. It was love at first sight and shortly after we got married in what, in the same period, became the “Marcandole al mare”, since we also decided to manage together the glorious TerrazzaMare di Jesolo ». In the intensity of Roberta’s story there is all her optimistic and constructive character as a strong and sensitive woman, which is also reflected in the atmosphere of her restaurant: “Even if we make all the decisions about the two restaurants Roberto and I together, he dedicates himself to the restaurant in Jesolo and I take care of the one in Salgareda, where I make use of an extraordinary and well-trained staff. Starting with chef Waldemarro Leonetti, who for five years has been the head of the kitchen with his great culinary skills but also the leader of a well-knit brigade. A team that, among other things, has a very effective dialogue with that of the dining room of which I belong, because I always work side by side with my employees ».