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FEB. MAR. 2021 VI MAGAZINE our own and also to entice diners to eat dessert”. Or the welcome cocktail with extra dry bubbly and Aperol spheres: “it has become our business card; it makes it immediately clear to customers what kind of cuisine they can expect”. How is it going? “For us, the difficulty of not being able to open in the evening has been great, because our à la carte menu requires time that is not available during the lunch break. Of course, we used to close at 6pm and then go out to see overcrowded supermarkets and shops”. The number of diners, however, has not changed: “there are ten tables and ten will remain, for about 25 diners: we could not guarantee the same service to a greater number of people”. What is your strongpoint for the post- Covid period? “We are educating our guests’ palates to different flavours, using not only products from Molise. We have travelled and tried ethnic cuisines, and this leads us to experiment. We cook things that cannot be done at home. At the moment, however, to adapt to lunch, we imagined a fast menu with two courses plus a small pastry. We also had lots of ideas, such as liquid nitrogen, but at the moment we have to hold back, they are too expensive in the uncertain situation”. ADAPT Ciro Alberto Cuciniello, Carter Oblio, Rome, November 2020 Carter Oblio is an anagram of Ciro Alberto, Cuciniello by surname, a creative chef (he worked at Combal. Zero) who opened in Rome’s Prati area, facing a puzzle that cannot be solved by riddles: how to survive in the Covid era? And he gave himself several answers. “The scenario is surreal, we opened in November fully aware of the economic situation. We were supposed to leave in May, but it was not possible, so during the summer I worked in Ibiza, so as not to stop and to try a different field. In Rome, we opened with very clear ideas: resisting the situation, adapting to new customs. For example, concentrating all the moments of the day during lunch, and this has removed many doubts about what to do. I love experimenting, taking advantage of long, thoughtful times, devoting myself to time-consuming preparations such as fermentations, breads, fresh cheeses, smoking and maturing: if there is one small positive note in the situation, it has been the opportunity to stop and think, the extended timescales”. Ideas for dealing with the difficult times? “We have ‘disguised’ ourselves as a shop by putting some shelves in the window with the products we make and removing the tables. Then we invented the Scarpetteria, a takeaway that combines ‘juicy and powerful’ dishes - meat, fish or vegetables - associating a different bread with each one. Perfect for takeaway but also suitable for a quick lunch, so much so that we added them to the menu when we reopened. It’s a warm and cosy comfort food, but we are already thinking of cooler versions for the summer”. How is it going? “There has been a slight recovery, especially at weekends: after all, going out for lunch is almost the only opportunity for entertainment, with shows, cinemas and theatres closed”. How do you see the future? “I foresee big changes but also big ideas coming in the restaurant industry. As in all times of economic crisis, it will be necessary to improve and relaunch, rationalise and reorder. This virus seems to have been created specifically to hit restaurants, where you can’t wear a mask, there is the passing of food between various hands, but perhaps there has been a lack of a real plan, and certainly a lack of controls. And it would have been possible, as in New York, to eat outside, in the many set up terraces”. RETURNING TO THE ORIGINS Diego Rossi, Osteria di via Melzo 12, Milan, February/March 2021 The chef of Milan’s coolest trattoria, Trippa, is betting (also) on a new project with partners Enricomaria Porta (the host) and Josef Khattabi: an osteria opening in Milan at 12 Via Melzo. “It is a return to the origins of catering and the old Italian osteria with the host and wine at the centre, without an internal kitchen but with a few dishes: cold cuts and cheeses, but not only”. A bet on a different future: “it is a small space, 60 square metres, where everything will be shared, easy, without reservations”. The choice of wines is central: “unconventional, produced according to ethics and sustainability, with little chemistry in the vineyard and little handiwork in the cellar. But we don’t want to play the role of the usual niche natural wine shop”. The project was born before Covid [like all the ones mentioned, ed]: ‘we look ahead, we don’t give up’. How do you see the restaurant business of the future? “I don’t have any answers, but I think it will be done by professionals, there will be no room for improvisers. And I think there will be more room for ethics, for nuances. And for the recovery of our deepest identity. AT PAGE 20 IN DEPTH Residual EU funding: 55 billion for businesses The lack of knowledge about the possibility of using the residues of European funding is probably a political will. This is the opinion of financial advisor Giancarlo Barbarisi who, with his statements, has opened up new scenarios by giving indications to the restaurant sector (and not only) on how to be economically supported at this time by Maddalena Baldini The situation is constantly and regularly forcing us to take stock. We are not only following the numbers of contagions and deaths, but also those of the economy and the social fabric, which are just as worrying as the health issue. The catering sector, which has been at a standstill (or at least partly at a standstill) since the start of the pandemic, gives us a disturbing overview: a 48% loss in sales and a drop in turnover of around 10 billion euros; a crisis that affects 330,000 activities such as restaurants, trattorias and bars, around 70,000 food industries and 740,000 agricultural businesses with over 3,600,000 workers. Giancarlo Barbarisi - a consultant specialising in business finance and founder of the blog Business Plan Vincente - reports the figures, also touching on a very interesting and at the same time very delicate subject: “Few people know (and did know) that the European funds of the 2014- 2020 agenda can be used to make a concrete contribution to activities that have seen a drastic fall in turnover. Fortunately, this can still be remedied