50 years of Restaurant Mario
To turn 50 is a milestone in anyone's life. On 3 April Restaurant Mario, an excellent Italian restaurant in Wijdewormer, will celebrate half a century of achievements. We have got in touch with the maître, Mr Antonio Opromolla,to get to know the story behind their success.
«I have known the Uva family for 37 years, I was only 17 when I first arrived in the Netherlands and met Mario Uva, the founder of the restaurant. We started to make high quality cuisine many years ago, with home made specialties such as ravioli, pappardelle, spaghetti. Everything that we serve is of artisan production, nothing is industrial. Everyday we prepare the sauces, with meats or fish, and two types of bread, white and with herbs or spices... even the biscuits that are served with the coffee are home made. All the years spent here have been an enriching experience and the restaurant is in constant evolution».
What products do you use to prepare the food?
«Everything we use in our kitchens comes from Italy. When the late Mario was still alive he used to travel to Italy every month with the restaurant's van to buy the supplies in Aosta, where we own a little house. He used to get vegetables, cold cuts, fontine, cheeses, hams and all things typical and natural that were difficult to source here».
How did the adventure of Restaurant Mario start?
«In a way, it started with Mario himself. Mario Uva was from Rossano Calabro (in Calabria, the tip of the boot), both his mother and father were chefs and instilled in him the passion for cooking from a young age. From Calabria the family moved to Rimini first, then to Aosta and finally to Amsterdam in the '70s, where Mario worked as a chef for five years. One day he met a girl (who later became his wife) whose father had a small bar in a village called Neck, north of Amsterdam. He allowed Mario to add a few tables to serve Italian food inside his bar which used to serve beer and local spirits with some fried food. So the restaurant was born. The following years it became bigger and bigger thanks also to the help of Mario's parents, who worked there for 20 years and supported him in establishing an excellent restaurant».
What has changed from those early days?
«The restaurant has grown, without a doubt: in 1967 it could seat 40 people, nowadays the capacity has tripled and it can seat up to 120 people. At the start we only had one room, then we were able to expand and nowadays we have two rooms and a room for private dinners as well as a wine cellar -with more than one hundred types of wine- where we organise tastings».
How are you going to celebrate your 50th year of activity?
«We will celebrate officially on 3rd April with a lunch for 50 people for those who have appreciated and supported us on the way. There will be journalists, photographers, wine experts, gourmets from The Netherlands, but also some Italian magazines which promote Italian culture».
What about the menu?
«It will be a five course lunch: antipasto, two types of homemade pasta, a bit of fish, a main course of meat, then some dessert, coffee and spirits. The most important thing: the lunch will be accompanied by the beautiful music of our guitarist friend, Bruno Tambani, who will play a repertoire of Italian and Neapolitan songs».
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