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Restaurant review
MoltoBuono!
Authentic Italian Food and Industry
With new restaurants and cafes opening in every neighbourhood of Bristol, starting up an Italian restaurant is bound to be a struggle on the ever-busy Park Street. Yet, the authentic Italian restaurant, molto buono, can easily entice both students and locals alike. Its main room creates a sky of fairy lights and guests are surrounded by what seems to be a fairytale set up. The independent restaurant opened in October 2018 and has been a triumph with reviews stating it's "a slice of Italy" in the heart of Bristol. I was lucky enough to speak with Simone - part of the team at Molto Buono - about the topic of "mangia" and the importance of Italian food in the industry.
For Simone, Italian food has always been at the heart of his life. With a diet of at least one pizza a day as a child, he expresses that this interest in food is"something in our nature" as an Italian. Originally from Naples - the home of pizza napoletana - Simone began to work in the hospitality industry in his late teenage years before running a family hotel in Sardinia for several years. With thirty years in the industry under his belt, a move to Bristol couldn't have been better. Asking why Bristol was the desired location for founding a new restaurant, Simone named the city "unique" and "cosmipolitan", a city with a vast understanding of Italian food. Bristol is undeniably a welcoming city that is open to new cultures and foods. The team at Molto Buono see it as unique not only to England but to some areas of Italy as well. It's important to mention that his restaurant truly is a family affair. Within the members of the team, several are related, yet as Simone mentions, the concept of family goes "beyond the fact that you're related or not". Whilst not all are strictly relative, the team work together as a family with the same goal of providing authentic Italian cuisine and enjoying themselves whilst doing so.
Concentrating on the importance of "mangiare" for Italians, I asked Simone whether this term had a greater significance within the Italian culture. His response related one's approach to food to how you approach life. This can either be a superficial outlook, or it can focus on gaining understanding and knowledge. This means food should be used to engage with one another rather than simply to provide a necessary meal; it should be fulfilling for both the body and the soul. For Italians, "mangiare" means more than eating. It's the idea that this food brings close family and friends together to grow deeper relationships and get to know one another more intimately.
Ally Norris