Pesce Azzurro Osteria Di Pesce

What do you do when your favourite neighbourhood restaurant is facing closure? You buy it, of course. That was the solution that seven Italian food lovers came up with to save Pesce Azzurro in Woodstock, Cape Town. And we are molto grato

- Lynda Ingham-Brown

“It’s all about food with Italians,” says Valentina Russo when we’re talking about how a group of seven Italians living in Cape Town, most of whom have no experience in running a restaurant, came to be the new owners of Pesce Azzurro, a totally unpretentious and outstanding Italian seafood bistro in Woodstock.

For this venture, Valentina (who has a PhD in engineering) and her partner Enrico di Giambattista (an IT professional who now runs an AirBnB and imports Olympic fencing equipment), Giovanna Sartor and Fabio Valsasina (both of whom were also involved in the IT industry in Italy) and Marco Castoldi (the manager of a five-star boutique hotel in Camps Bay, with years of experience in the hospitality industry), teamed up with the former owners of award-winning restaurant La Sosta in Swellendam: Gianni Minori (a former optometrist) and Cristiana Ariotto (who worked in a bank in Milan).

“We all love to eat well,” says Enrico, who sometimes takes his turn in the small kitchen. “I’ve always loved the idea of having a restaurant and I have a passion for cooking,” he continues. “I love seeing the reaction on people’s faces when they taste the food I have made, it’s so rewarding. I sometimes peek out from the kitchen to see their expressions when the food arrives at the table.”

Cristiana echoes his words. “My nonnas taught me how to cook. Cooking makes me happy; I really cook from the heart. Before we had a restaurant, I’d come home from work in Milan, feed my cats and open the fridge. Some people go to gym after work, I cooked!”