I was born in Rome in 1979, I am Emanuela's sister and therefore the second child of 24 year old Rosella, who comes from Tiriolo (CZ) in the Calabrian hinterland and of 29 year old Stefano who was born in Paganico.
I grew up in the Monte Verde neighborhood, near Trastevere, in those years I started to cook, I invented combinations, I discussed my food tastes, I don't eat cheese (to tell the truth still! except for a few very tasty exceptions) and smells of it which I however use to prepare my dishes. Among the first aunts with whom I compared myself in the kitchen and whose recipes I remember with pleasure, which are not the same to me, there is Aunt Angelina, sister of my paternal grandmother Assunta. Meanwhile, during the long holidays in Calabria I learned the art and flavors of their cuisine by watching my aunts, Rina and Maria. From grandmother Assunta I learned that a plate of pasta is not denied to anyone!
The other aunt, Aunt Lina, on the other hand, is the one who whispers to me every time I tinker in the kitchen "Do you want a hand?" and yes, Aunt Lina is the one physically closest to the home restaurant.
And then there are the advice, the dishes, the recipes from other busy hands... they are my mother's.
For 20 years I managed a shop selling organic and quality products, and this is how my love for ingredients and their origins, qualitative and ethical, and knowing how to choose them was born. And this passion "for shopping" is the first ingredient that I bring to the table of my home restaurant.
This is what a Home Restaurant is:
The room that hosts you is the living room of the large house that belonged to my grandparents Angelo and Assunta. In that small kitchen Grandma prepared excellent lunches for family Sundays, while Grandpa waited reading the newspaper near the bright window overlooking Lake Turano during the summer, or next to the "economic kitchen" in winter. The dark wooden ceiling, the niches with antique objects, the two fireplaces and the still original furniture create an elegant, welcoming, romantic and lively room.
Even the economical kitchen, the cutlery, the plates, the bowls used are original, with the aim of giving you a moment of pampering that will make you say: "Just like at home".
At the long table at which you will eat you will find me, my family, sometimes my friends sitting, other times we will set a more private table for you under the large window or closer to the lit fireplace. Other times we will find ourselves telling each other life anecdotes, or I will tell you how I choose the pasta or why I select that wine cellar rather than the recipe for the dish, other times musician friends will play together with my brother-in-law. Sometimes you will find my children Andrea and Sofia, or my nephew Francesco, who, with their grandfather Stefano and their words, will be happy to tell you the secrets of the house and accompany you on a walk through the alleys of the village of Paganico: this is what my Home Restaurant is
The logo and name?
Well if you are enough of a fan of 80s cartoons you have understood who she is... and yes, she is a "Mariangela Pollon-ized", the little semi-goddess with blond curls, lively, intelligent and curious: here I am at her age . The only "Goddess" to whom to entrust the idea of the Rite of good food in Paganico. Playing with the assonance of words of the "pagan ritual". Born from the hand of the designer Cristiano Silvi.
