“Pierre”, Luca and Nicolò’s first sartorial kitchen

Few seats, but an exclusive relationship with customers: “We prepare dishes tailored to their needs”

TREVISO. «Pierre was born in January 2021, when we started the renovation of the spaces of the former“ Porta di Alberto ”, and opens in the following month of April». But he immediately stops, Nicolo De Pol, and specifies: «In reality we hoped to open at Easter, in the months when all the premises were closed due to the pandemic and – with our hands and with the help of family members – we gave the place a new look and functionality. But for our “inauguration” we had to settle for the take-away menu, so we set up outdoor spaces that we hadn’t planned, we managed between strict opening hours. In short: it was an uphill start. But when we were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, a lot of fun started ».

He tells it as if it were a story from a long time ago, the one that brought many locals to their knees but did not prevent him and Luca Tartaglia to continue making plans for the new venue. Passionate and smiling when he talks about his work, Nicolò took his current job in the dining room as a challenge, since for many years he was a cook, trained at the Alberini in Treviso and then with Diego Tomasi at the Basilisco in Treviso, then alongside Corrado Fasolato at the Metropole of Venice. «It was he who introduced me to pastry», he recalls, «and among sweets, ice creams and chocolate I worked for many years in numerous venues in Venice. Then, in 2017, Nicola Dinato invited me to open his new Zanze XVI in Venice, but asking me to take care of the room: I accepted the challenge and faced an epochal change for me, discovering how much I like the direct relationship with customers and thus knowing also Tartaglia, now my partner. A year after the opening of Zanze, Luca left Venice for a prestigious restaurant in Milan, but a few years later he sought me out to get involved in his project. And here we are ».

Pierre has a strong, decisive character. It is a “tailor-made trattoria”, an already innovative definition that says a lot about how clear the project was and how singular the proposal is, which can be appreciated in the two small welcoming vaguely retro rooms overlooked by the kitchen, almost establish an even more complicit and artisanal bond with customers. An offer that chef Luca Tartaglia illustrates as follows: «I don’t make the dishes according to a pre-established menu, but I elaborate the products that the farmers, the butcher and the fishmonger of trust supply us every day, transforming them according to the wishes of each customer. In fact, we offer three tasting menus, from 4, 6 or 10 dishes that I modify according to the needs or preferences of each one, following the sartorial philosophy that guides us. In short, we have made a strong point both on the personalization of the dishes but also on the many ingredients that people do not eat – net of allergies, intolerances and choices about which we immediately inform ourselves – perhaps only on the basis of a bad memory or a prejudice. . Nicolò, thanks to his knowledge of cooking, is able to interpret the wishes and preferences of customers, always giving me a precise idea of ​​what the diner expects: from the answers to the questions he asks wisely, we understand if I can “provoke” using ingredients that a person says he doesn’t like it very much by elaborating them in an unusual way, offering her flavors he doesn’t yet know or breaking down his prejudice ».

The game is thrilling the Treviso people: “There are many people here who have begun to taste things they no longer ate and many who have begun to appreciate flavors they did not know or which they did not want to approach”, Tartaglia explains. «Those who know us now trust us and after having explained to Nicolò what they would like, they conclude with a“ Let’s leave it to Luca ”, which is the greatest satisfaction for us». Also because chef Tartaglia, at just over thirty, already has a very respectable curriculum: “That for cooking is a passion that I have always had: this is why I attended Maffioli in Castelfranco and immediately started working in the kitchen first in Italy, then in many parts of Europe, especially in London and Paris. There I was lucky enough to have a great teacher, Pascal Barbot in his multi-starred Astrance, and with him I began to appreciate the surprise menus based mainly on the products of the day: a challenge that I wanted to bring to Treviso ».