Who we are
Sitting in the dehors of the Solferino, they sip a gin and tonic looking out over the beautiful square. It is late September, autumn has decided to play with foliage, but the temperature is still mild, the air warm, and the sunlight still pleasant on the skin.
Were it not for the colors, it might look like a calendar joke….
Simone, the restaurant’s longtime manager, feels a chill as he remembers the year that awakened Turin, 2006. It was a special year for him, but it was also a special year for Andrea, the owner of the establishment, owner of the Ambrogini group, who teases him with questions about that time.
The subway arrived after so many postponements, urban planning changes were decided upon that will change many parts of the city, the atmosphere is as electric as ever under the mole.
Perhaps it has not been since 1961, since the centenary exhibition of the Unification of Italy, that the people of Turin have seen their Savoyard understatement so tested!
Andrea: “Simone, but do you remember when they had put “Gianduiotti” in the square here?”
Simone: “Man, I couldn’t remember anymore! What were the names of those pavilions? Atrium? Maybe the plaza kind of smothered it, but they weren’t bad…They were by Giugiaro, weren’t they?”
Andrea: “Yes I think so, but I honestly didn’t like them very much. When I first came here to discuss the purchase of the Solferino they were brand new…”
Simone: “You know I still remember it when you first told me about Solferino? It was not long that I had been working for you, a little over a year. I had started at the Monferrino, in March 2006. What a strange year! I had been thinking about the Olympics for months, I wanted to enjoy all the competitions, stay awake 24 hours a day, not miss anything…and instead, on March 1 I had started at the Monferrino…”
Andrea: “Already the Monferrino was a gem, with that central hall…I remember when I had first seen the facility in San Mauro I had thought, here I don’t want a dehors, here I want a big bright hall! The customers had liked it right away, but getting it off the ground hadn’t been that easy…”
Simone: “Tell me about it! I remember, you know, in September, six months after I was hired, how your voice was shaking when you told me that you couldn’t keep me anymore, that I had to look around… Then, who knows what happened… I remember on break I had gone to the old bridge in San Mauro.
A cigarette lasted a minute, an hour, maybe a year. I thought as I looked into the distance at the Mole, that after all, the world was unfair, that in those months I had given my soul. That it could not end like that. Then…Puff, that night in the hall, I don’t know, maybe the customers had listened to me, maybe they had agreed. I certainly remember that from that night on it was a success, we always had a full house. Marco, with his calm strength, reassured me more and more every day. And I trusted him: he had been the first one there at the Monferrino, you had wanted him from day one. And he would tell me to take it easy, that we would win, that the Monferrino would fill up every night…”
Andrea [laughing]: “Well, if Marco said that, Ahahahah! Anyway, you say to me, about my trembling voice, but do you remember when I told you that I wanted to make you the Director of the new Solferino? Ahahahah.”
Simone: “Laugh, laugh. I was chickening out. Man! And I also remember when then, the next year, in 2008, you said, “Welcome to the control room!” It was all so incredible. And that was 10 years ago…I was 20 years old.”
IN SOLFERINO SQUARE BETWEEN LEHMAN BROTHERS and OSTENSION.
Andrea: “Well, that was a challenge as well. And it wasn’t just to divide between Monferrino and Solferino…Solferino was a historic venue. Downtown, the ‘Torino bene’ used to go there, the most prominent people in the city. And we, on tiptoe, had to replace a historical management…”
Simone: “Every time a service started, I would look out into the hall and think, will we know how to do well today? Ahahahah.”
Andrea: “But we stay quiet never, just as we were getting into gear, the American crisis comes upon us.”
Simone: “Don’t complain, come on! The first months it’s true, fear at 1000 and hall emptying, but then in 2009 we were back strong! And then also the 2010 Ostension…”
Andrea: “Man, that was when you had pulled the 7-on-7 thing out of your hat. I always loved you after all (laughs thunderously).”
Simone: “I had thought about that a lot. I felt it was a waste not to keep lunch and dinner open every day in such a lively atmosphere, in such a beautiful square. But I was afraid that the crew would take it very badly, that the Sunday sacrifice would be considered ‘sacrilege.’ Remember? I told you that that had to be OUR Solferino. A 7-on-7 Solferino – 365 days a year.”
Andrea: “The truth? That idea of yours was important in deciding to buy Holly…I wanted to be able to work on a platform of three venues, and honestly, with Holly I could see the circle closing.”
DOWNTOWN RESTAURANTS AND MONFERRINO’S “ARGENTINE TRANSFORMATION”
Simone: “A good operation indeed, although it brought up the whole need to revive the Monferrino. I was hurting to see it now with few customers, almost all of whom were projected to discover the clubs downtown…”
Andrea: “eh, you know, I still think about it now. A punch in the gut to see that January 1, 2013 serving the last service at Monferrino. Of course, the idea of turning it into a typical Argentine restaurant appealed to me quite a bit, but it was just tough…”
Simone: “Well, Volver brought us a lot of color, cheerfulness, and I must say, also the knowledge that Andrea Ambrogini’s team could sell more than just Raviolini del plin and Battute di carne cruda.”
Andrea: “You’re right, it’s always hard to explain, but our work is an almost chemical combination. That then if a customer is doing well, it’s not just because of what you prepare for them.”
Andrea and Simone remain silent for a while, calmly sipping the end of the cocktail and quickly seeing the light change, the reflections becoming warmer in color, the shadows longer.
Andrea: “Going through it all again, we’ve come a long way, huh? What about tomorrow?”
Simone: “Andre, do you want mine? I don’t know!!!!”
[They both laugh thunderously]
TOMORROW, STARTING FROM PIAZZA SOLFERINO
Simone: “You think though, that after selling Agrifoglio, given Volver under management, we find ourselves here at Solferino, as if we were at the beginning of a new cycle! In my opinion, that’s really how we are Ambrogini Group in the end, our imprinting. Don’t you think so?”
Andrea: “You’re right, but every time you rethink an important decision, it’s as if the previous ones are long gone. Think about this Dehors, think about how it opened up a view of the plaza for us, think about the veranda version, think about the limitations of today, think about how we might rethink it tomorrow. I don’t know, maybe you’re right, when you find yourself in a place thinking back on more than a decade of enterprise, you feel charged up and you’re on the hunt for new challenges…”
Simone: “New challenges? Andrea…do you have something to tell me?”
Who we are
Sitting in the dehors of the Solferino, they sip a gintonic looking out over the beautiful square. It is late September, autumn has decided to play with foliage, but the temperature is still mild, the air warm, and the sunlight still pleasant on the skin.
Were it not for the colors, it might look like a calendar joke….
THE OLYMPICS, THE MONFERRINO AND SOLFERINO
Simone, the restaurant’s longtime manager, feels a chill as he remembers the year that awakened Turin, 2006. It was a special year for him, but it was also a special year for Andrea, the owner of the Ambrogini group, who teases him with questions about that time.
2006, the year that brought the Olympics to Turin, turning the city into a modern and efficient small sports capital.
The subway has arrived after many postponements, urban planning changes have been decided that will change many parts of the city, the atmosphere is as electric as ever under the mole.
Perhaps it has been since 1961, since the centenary exhibition of the Unification of Italy, that the people of Turin have not seen their Savoyard understatement tested so much!
Andrea: “Simone, but do you remember when they had put “Gianduiotti” in the square here?”
Simone: “Man, I couldn’t remember anymore! What were the names of those pavilions? Atrium? Maybe the plaza kind of smothered it, but they weren’t bad…They were by Giugiaro, weren’t they?”
Andrea: “Yes I think so, but I honestly didn’t like them very much. When I first came here to discuss the purchase of the Solferino they were brand new…”
Simone: “Do you know that I still remember when you first told me about Solferino? It wasn’t long that I was working for you, a little over a year. I had started at the Monferrino, in March 2006. What a strange year! I had been thinking about the Olympics for months, I wanted to enjoy all the competitions, stay awake 24 hours a day, not miss anything…and instead, on March 1 I had started at the Monferrino…”
Andrea: “Already the Monferrino was a gem, with that central hall…I remember when I had first seen the facility in San Mauro I had thought, here I don’t want a dehors, here I want a big bright hall! The customers had liked it right away, but getting it off the ground hadn’t been that easy…”
Simone: “Tell me about it! I remember, you know, in September, six months after I was hired, how your voice was shaking when you told me that you couldn’t keep me anymore, that I had to look around… Then, who knows what happened… I remember on break I had gone to the old bridge in San Mauro.
A cigarette lasted a minute, an hour, maybe a year. I thought as I looked into the distance at the Mole, that after all, the world was unfair, that in those months I had given my soul. That it could not end like that. Then…Puff, that night in the hall, I don’t know, maybe the customers had listened to me, maybe they had agreed. I certainly remember that from that night on it was a success, we always had a full house. Marco, with his calm strength, reassured me more and more every day. And I trusted him: he had been the first one there at the Monferrino, you had wanted him from day one. And he would tell me to take it easy, that we would win, that the Monferrino would fill up every night…”
Andrea [laughing]: “Well, if Marco said that, Ahahahah! Anyway, you say to me, about my trembling voice, but do you remember when I told you that I wanted to make you the Director of the new Solferino? Ahahahah.”
Simone: “Laugh, laugh. I was chickening out. Man! And I also remember when then, the next year, in 2008, you said, “Welcome to the control room!” It was all so incredible. And that was 10 years ago…I was 20 years old.”
IN SOLFERINO SQUARE BETWEEN LEHMAN BROTHERS and OSTENSION.
Andrea: “Well, that was a challenge as well. And it wasn’t just to divide between Monferrino and Solferino…Solferino was a historic venue. Downtown, the ‘Torino bene’ used to go there, the most prominent people in the city. And we, on tiptoe, had to replace a historical management…”
Simone: “Every time a service started, I would look out into the hall and think, will we know how to do well again today? Ahahahah.”
Andrea: “But we stay quiet never, just as we were getting into gear, the American crisis comes upon us.”
Simone: “Don’t complain, come on! The first months it’s true, fear at 1000 and hall emptying, but then in 2009 we were back strong! And then also the 2010 Ostension…”
Andrea: “Man, that was when you had pulled the 7-on-7 thing out of your hat. I always loved you after all (laughs thunderously).”
Simone: “I had thought about that a lot. I felt it was a waste not to keep lunch and dinner open every day in such a lively atmosphere, in such a beautiful square. But I was afraid that the crew would take it very badly, that the Sunday sacrifice would be considered ‘sacrilegious.’ Remember? I told you that that had to be OUR Solferino. A 7-on-7 Solferino – 365 days a year.”
Andrea: “The truth? That idea of yours was important in deciding to buy Holly…I wanted to be able to work on a platform of three venues, and honestly, with Holly I could see the circle closing.”
DOWNTOWN RESTAURANTS AND MONFERRINO’S “ARGENTINE TRANSFORMATION”
Simone: “A good operation indeed, although it brought up the whole need to revive the Monferrino. I was hurting to see it now with few customers, almost all of whom were projected to discover the clubs downtown…”
Andrea: “eh, you know, I still think about it now. A punch in the gut to see that January 1, 2013 serving the last service at Monferrino. Of course, the idea of turning it into a typical Argentine restaurant appealed to me quite a bit, but it was just tough…”
Simone: “Well, Volver brought us a lot of color, cheerfulness, and I must say, also the knowledge that Andrea Ambrogini’s team could sell more than just Raviolini del plin and Battute di carne cruda.”
Andrea: “You’re right, it’s always hard to explain, but our work is an almost chemical combination. That then if a customer is doing well, it’s not just because of what you prepare for them.”
Andrea and Simone remain silent for a while, calmly sipping the end of the cocktail and quickly seeing the light change, the reflections becoming warmer in color, the shadows longer.
Andrea: “Going through it all again, we’ve come a long way, huh? What about tomorrow?”
Simone: “Andre, do you want mine? I don’t know!!!!”
[They both laugh thunderously]
TOMORROW, STARTING FROM PIAZZA SOLFERINO
Simone: “You think though, that after selling Agrifoglio, given Volver under management, we find ourselves here at Solferino, as if we were at the beginning of a new cycle! In my opinion, that’s really how we are Ambrogini Group in the end, our imprinting. Don’t you think so?”
Andrea: “You’re right, but every time you rethink an important decision, it’s as if the previous ones are long gone. Think about this Dehors, think about how it opened up a view of the plaza for us, think about the veranda version, think about the limitations of today, think about how we might rethink it tomorrow. I don’t know, maybe you’re right, when you find yourself in a place thinking back on more than a decade of enterprise, you feel charged up and you’re on the hunt for new challenges…”
Simone: “New challenges? Andrea…do you have something to tell me?”