In the city centre, in a courtyard in Via Pignolo, there has been a magical little place with a warm Bavarian atmosphere for over twenty years.
Together with the Urban District of Commerce we met the manager, Silvano Grumelli, who told us the story of his business.
Silvano: born in 1968, from the Redona neighbourhood, big-eyed gentleman and easy and instinctive chatter.
He is often found behind the counter, wearing typical German braces, pouring beers or sitting at the StammTisch - a table reserved for regulars - who he loves to cheerfully entertain.
Here, over the years, Silvano has learned the precious value of conviviality: sitting together, enjoying the flavours, drinking one or more beers, but above all enjoying the slow pace of good relationships. Even those of a single evening.
"They make fun of me because I'm one of the few who, when he comes off the highway, looks for the toll collector. I like human contact, always!".
If you ask him what Marienplatz is all about, he responds "it’s a lifestyle": that has to do with respect for traditions, the desire to get along well, the effectiveness and the profound sense of civic duty that is found above all in Bavaria and Tyrol. "And to think that as a boy I didn't drink beer, I hated sausages and in German class I never got more than 5/10!"
However, since he was a child, he dreamed of his restaurant and at eight years old he dried glasses and organised the bottles in a family business in Grumello del Monte. Then as a teenager, while the others played soccer, he worked at the Half Moon pub (the first in town): "I didn't need to work, but I did it for passion!"
After hotel management school, meeting with Mirko Panattoni from La Marianna was a decisive moment for him. It is understandable why when telling us, the look and the words are filled with emotion and gratitude. "I spent eight years with him and even though I worked a lot, I enjoyed it. Mr. Enrico immediately trusted me and suggested that his son hire me straightaway. Complicit to the fact that I was doing military service in the police force!"
"In the many places I’ve worked, respect for roles has never been a problem. I’ve never forgotten a Yes Chef!". Silvano tells, like an overflowing river, anecdotes and adventures of many years of experience, sometimes exploding in laughter and sometimes becoming seriously serious: "Everything served me. Every time I learned something: in the pizzeria to be fast, in the bar to remind me of the customers’ tastes. Today when a regular customer crosses the courtyard of Marienplatz, I'm already pouring their favourite beer!"
Customer care time is his favourite. Sometimes he talks about politics, sometimes about travel or football. He knows that every evening when he comes out of the locker room, "the show begins!". He remembers the maître, who he met during his apprenticeship years, who read the dictionary during breaks - he said "otherwise I don't understand what they tell me". "He was right - comments Silvano - you need to know a little bit of everything and listen not only with your ears. From the tone they use on the phone, I understand whether or not to put them on a quieter table”.
Often in the afternoon he is seen walking around in via Pignolo, he greets colleagues from other stores, checks that the plants put out by the residents have been watered, he has a snack in the bar or with the boys at the new pizzeria: "The street is a family. There is no competition, maybe other businesses will open too! They create a new energy and they always teach you something and then you have to run the economy and make people enjoy it!"
Sitting at the stammtisch, between a beer, a bretzel and some tasty speck, a scent of freshly baked bread envelops us. Silvano shows it to us with pride, chuckles and says “five-grain bread, I had to turn on the oven first, but I started chatting with a neighbour and it has risen too much! Isn’t it beautiful?"
Speaking of beauty, at Marienplatz, it would take a whole day just to look around. From the silent Via Pignolo you enter the enchanted world of Bavaria among tin hearts, model aeroplanes, kitchen utensils from the past, magic boxes and trophies. The basket of homemade bread is the restaurant’s, while a steaming shin already sizzles on the fire.
We’re starting to feel hungry.
Last question: between frankfurters, canederli and goulash soup... which is your favourite dish?
"Mum's gnocchi!"
In the city centre, in a courtyard in Via Pignolo, there has been a magical little place with a warm Bavarian atmosphere for over twenty years.
Together with the Urban District of Commerce we met the manager, Silvano Grumelli, who told us the story of his business.
Silvano: born in 1968, from the Redona neighbourhood, big-eyed gentleman and easy and instinctive chatter.
He is often found behind the counter, wearing typical German braces, pouring beers or sitting at the StammTisch - a table reserved for regulars - who he loves to cheerfully entertain.
Here, over the years, Silvano has learned the precious value of conviviality: sitting together, enjoying the flavours, drinking one or more beers, but above all enjoying the slow pace of good relationships. Even those of a single evening.
"They make fun of me because I'm one of the few who, when he comes off the highway, looks for the toll collector. I like human contact, always!".
If you ask him what Marienplatz is all about, he responds "it’s a lifestyle": that has to do with respect for traditions, the desire to get along well, the effectiveness and the profound sense of civic duty that is found above all in Bavaria and Tyrol. "And to think that as a boy I didn't drink beer, I hated sausages and in German class I never got more than 5/10!"
However, since he was a child, he dreamed of his restaurant and at eight years old he dried glasses and organised the bottles in a family business in Grumello del Monte. Then as a teenager, while the others played soccer, he worked at the Half Moon pub (the first in town): "I didn't need to work, but I did it for passion!"
After hotel management school, meeting with Mirko Panattoni from La Marianna was a decisive moment for him. It is understandable why when telling us, the look and the words are filled with emotion and gratitude. "I spent eight years with him and even though I worked a lot, I enjoyed it. Mr. Enrico immediately trusted me and suggested that his son hire me straightaway. Complicit to the fact that I was doing military service in the police force!"
"In the many places I’ve worked, respect for roles has never been a problem. I’ve never forgotten a Yes Chef!". Silvano tells, like an overflowing river, anecdotes and adventures of many years of experience, sometimes exploding in laughter and sometimes becoming seriously serious: "Everything served me. Every time I learned something: in the pizzeria to be fast, in the bar to remind me of the customers’ tastes. Today when a regular customer crosses the courtyard of Marienplatz, I'm already pouring their favourite beer!"
Customer care time is his favourite. Sometimes he talks about politics, sometimes about travel or football. He knows that every evening when he comes out of the locker room, "the show begins!". He remembers the maître, who he met during his apprenticeship years, who read the dictionary during breaks - he said "otherwise I don't understand what they tell me". "He was right - comments Silvano - you need to know a little bit of everything and listen not only with your ears. From the tone they use on the phone, I understand whether or not to put them on a quieter table”.
Often in the afternoon he is seen walking around in via Pignolo, he greets colleagues from other stores, checks that the plants put out by the residents have been watered, he has a snack in the bar or with the boys at the new pizzeria: "The street is a family. There is no competition, maybe other businesses will open too! They create a new energy and they always teach you something and then you have to run the economy and make people enjoy it!"
Sitting at the stammtisch, between a beer, a bretzel and some tasty speck, a scent of freshly baked bread envelops us. Silvano shows it to us with pride, chuckles and says “five-grain bread, I had to turn on the oven first, but I started chatting with a neighbour and it has risen too much! Isn’t it beautiful?"
Speaking of beauty, at Marienplatz, it would take a whole day just to look around. From the silent Via Pignolo you enter the enchanted world of Bavaria among tin hearts, model aeroplanes, kitchen utensils from the past, magic boxes and trophies. The basket of homemade bread is the restaurant’s, while a steaming shin already sizzles on the fire.
We’re starting to feel hungry.
Last question: between frankfurters, canederli and goulash soup... which is your favourite dish?
"Mum's gnocchi!"
