«At 62, I’m starting from scratch, from the market. Indeed the market »begins Filippo La Mantia. “For the past 18 years I’ve had several luxury restaurants but now I find my true beingFilippo La Mantia is a storytellertypical of rural Sicily, e host, the one who loves to feed and converse with people. This restaurant is my chance: I can describe the modern market in my own way ».
After having closed the Filippo La Mantia restaurant with the pandemic, and having spent long periods in Palermo for advice at the Hotel delle Palme, one of the most loved chefs in the city (in 2021 he also received the Ambrogino d’Oro for cooking for the staff of the Niguarda hospital during the pandemic) returns to Milan: «With the new restaurant are closer to the family, to my children, to Chiara (Maci ed) and to Chiara’s daughter, who I feel as mine: now we are together in the afternoon and in the evening we eat together. I finally live them, “she says.
What will the new restaurant at the Central Market look like
At the Central Market will bring the traditional dishes, even those of the family, recipes as simple as they are special: caponata, arancina (and like Palermo, Filippo La Mantia is keen to emphasize the “a”) or citrus pesto. Instead for faster dishes (for those who run to catch the train) or even a cannoli filled at the moment, at the entrance of the Central Market there will be a dedicated corner. «And then I also take the deliverywhich was particularly requested of me in this period of absence from Milan, I will rely on Cosa Porto ».
Where will we find the restaurant? «It will be on the first floor, in the most secluded part of the Central Market for a total of about 150 square meters: I would like to recreate an atmosphere where you can feel at homeand also a little on the way to desirable destinations, a sort of lounge with armchairs and sofasa style that does not yet exist at the market, for about eighty sessions ».
The future: Italy of the markets
For the future? Why not other restaurants in the Central Markets of the whole Bel Paese? “I have another daughter from my previous marriage, her name is Carolina and he is 14 years old, we see each other often in Rome and he picks me up at Termini station: it would be nice to have a restaurant in the Central Market of the capital as well »begins La Mantia jokingly. «Milan is the pilot project, but if the format works well we agree to open the restaurant too in all the other Central Market of Italy, starting from Turin and Rome“.
The question arises: Why had the previous restaurant closed? «I’ll answer with the management numbers: we consumed about 120 thousand euros a year of electricity (and before the disproportionate increase in bills), we had one million and 200 thousand euros in annual salarieswe managed 40 to 60 employees with various extras between events and Sunday brunch, where we had approx 350 seats, without calculating the rent, of 31 thousand euros for 2050 square meters on three floors, all of which had to be manned by the staff. Until February 2020 all this was possible because we had an average of 130 covers per evening and 2021 and 2022 had to represent the years of consolidation. Having no funds, banks or partners behind me, bankruptcy was the only solution, with the serious shortcomings that the pandemic brought to the restaurant world, but – he underlines – I can say that I paid all my salaries and severance pay before closing my doors. “.
Source: Vanity Fair
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