I have to admit that until a few months ago the only ballerina I knew were shoes or dancers…instead thanks to Valentina, Giacomo, Laura e Corrado I could find out that it is one of the hundreds variety of pasta!
These guys have recently opened a Pastificio con Cucina (a pasta making lab with kitchen) called In Pasta in Lucca in April and they were so kind to invite the local tour guides for an event to share with us and to show us the two souls of their place.
As you have probably understood so far, I am quite a nosy girl and I had been there before and I had a good impression overall. Then when I received the invitation, I thought it was nice to know a little bit more of their stories, their ideas and their offers. So here we are a bunch of us, while Giacomo is telling how everything has started: a computer technician, two engineers and art graduate were determined to realize a pasta mission in town.
- A place dedicated to Food: an artisanal lab to make daily extra fresh pasta with an open-plan kitchen, a store where you can buy the pasta and the sauces, an easy and informal restaurant decorated with recycled pieces of furniture and vintage tables from where you can see your pasta plate being cooked.
- A place dedicated to Convivio… it means a banquet but it comes from the latin expression to live together. As you know in Italy, the meal has a very important social role, it is a happy moment we like to indulge over. It is in our culture a moment of deep connection. So a place to have an event, to allow people to meet, to share ideas on good, healthy food that lead to a more general idea of living good life, respecting the enviroment, the things we use, the people, the work and especially their story.
That’s why Valentina, Giacomo, Laura e Corrado, members of the Viareggio ethical purchasing group (GAS) have chosen to use biological and eco-friendly ingredients. The chestnut flour comes from Garfagnana, the vegetables from the Saturday farmer’s market at Foro Boario, the cheese from some shepherds around Lucca’s countryside. They have met all these producers, they are still searching for new ones, they would like to sustain the small ones to create a network.
I would love to take you there to eat a ballerina plate with tomatoes, eggplants and olive sauce or the beetroot ravioli and complete the meal with the yummy pistachio chestnut cantucci! Anyway, first you will have to put your hands “in pasta”... do you know what does it mean? Ready for the challenge?
