Never change a winning team

Interview with Lorenzo Ratti Calmo’s sommelier, Lorenzo Costa new opening in Bologna.

Lorenzo Costa volcanic mind is the one at the origins, young caterer from Bologna who has been the main character of extraordinary hospitality new openings since 2016. All innovative and able to catch a contemporary audience needs.

His background is of an historic caterer family from Bologna, he starts his business activity with Daniele Bendanti and the opening of Oltre. The restaurant offers a vision of felsinean traditions that captures all the requirements of a more contemporary cuisine without betraying them.

Over the years, Oltre has become a landmark on food and wine scene in Bologna, but Lorenzo didn’t stop here. In 2018 is the time for Sentaku, the first ramen bar opened in Emilia Romagna main city. In 2020 Nasty Burger Club arrives, which will become the city temple of the “smashed burger”, a quality hamburger made from fresh (not frozen) meat. And here it comes last summer, and Lorenzo Costa is again the main character of three new openings.

We are talking about Allegra, Scuro e Calmo, in order a backery, a cocktail bar and an Italian restaurant defined by the creators (Piero Solferini e Benedetto Linguerri, Lorenzo Costa’s business partners) as “nostalgic”. A concept of cuisine that “doesn’t want to remain crystalized on regional tradition but includes all national classic styles”.

During this hectic journey there are two fixed points that have never left Lorenzo. First and foremost, his passion for research and innovation in gastronomic formulas. A constant research accompanied by painstaking work on quality raw materials, the result of careful investigation of the territory and the selection of labels that represent the new “natural” vision of Italian oenology. As the second constant on Lorenzo Costa’s career, we can say our Enoweb is the one. The tool that has been able to take him through his long and complex journey into the world of wine.

Six years ago, couple of years after the opening of Oltre, Lorenzo choose Enoweb (as he remembers on this interview). Since then, our team has taken him through all his culinary adventures, up to the most recent one on Via galleria 11.

Today’s interview doesn’t feature Costa as starring but another Lorenzo (Lorenzo Ratti), a young Ligurian member of Oltre staff, chosen by Costa for his new adventure. From the experience of Oltre we find not only Enoweb but also most of Calmo’s staff. So, in honour of our interviewee, we can quote Alf Ramsey phrase: “Never change a winning team”.

“I have been working in Calmo Restaurant since the opening on last July. I come from La Spezia, not from Bologna, and I came here to study Public Administration at University. By living here in direct contact with the daily life of the city, having dinner and drinks with friends, a great passion for everything related to wine and food has grown on me. Thanks to the opportunity offered to me by Lorenzo Costa to join the staff of Oltre, this interest became a job. Initially I used to be a guest at the restaurant, then Lorenzo saw some good qualities in me and offer me a job. He was recruiting staff at that time.

From the beginning I have worked with Alessandro Stefani a professional sommelier, true master, and an important reference. From him I really learnt the trade. Alessandro is now involved in a new project in Imola and produces wine, so I am the one in charge of Calmo wine list, assisted by Filippo, a brilliant young man who started few months ago.”

So, Lorenzo Costa choice has been more a bet won on your quality rather than your previous working experience?

“Exactly, Lorenzo is like that. He is able to look at the personal quality of people that he chooses to work with him. And then if a person is smart can gain experience on the field.

How did you develop Calmo wine list?

Ideas, philosophy and structure come from our previous experience with Oltre’s wine list. Basically, we are talking about the imprinting Alessandro Stefani has given me, with his ideas, his work and  his knowledge. A teaching that I am happy to carry with me every day on the floor, without losing his advice and teachings coming from his experiences.

The kind of wines we choose have certain specific characteristics. Firstly, we like to offer our guests a product made naturally, with or without as few chemical elements as possible. We look for an artisanal product, free and alive. That is why we have to research for unconventional labels and producers.

It is also true that conveying all this to our customers is not always easy, but I can see that people are more opened to try new proposal and at the end of the meal they often thank us for letting them discover a new wine or a new producer”.

Could you describe Calmo’s wine list structure?

First of all, there is a large slice of territory, since we are in Emilia Romagna, where there are many big and small producers of great value; then we pay a lot of attention to the traditional Italians viticulture areas (Piedmont, Tuscany, etc). There is also a wide range of international labels, concentrate on France but also on some countries such as Austria, Croatia and Australia. The latter is linked to Alessandro, who lived there for few years.

Which is the relation between the choice of the labels and Calmo’s cuisine?

Ours is a cuisine that I could define as traditional Italian, not just regional. That is why we offer a wine list with a large selection of Italian wines.

What kind of customers come to your restaurant?

Since the beginning there has been a variety of people: curious people, some tourists, people from Bologna, gourmet who came from “word of mouth” … there was a bit of everything. The first results are quite positive, even though we don’t have a specific audience yet. Our goal is to maintain this and in the meantime focus on a public (both Italian and foreign) that loves to travel and eat in a conscious way. And then “gourmets” who love to be able to choose from an important wine list.

Going into specifics: why did you choose Enoweb?

Actually, we all come from a previous experience in Oltre. I have never had a work experience where Enoweb wasn’t used, and I really can’t imagine a sommelier working day without it.

So, we can consider you one of the first “Enoweb Native” sommeliers. Could you tell us, the specific times when you need Enoweb every day?

Well, basically the first thing I do in the morning when I arrive at the restaurant, is log into Enoweb and download all the bottles we sold the previous day. That way the wine list is always up-to-date and I can also understand what I need to buy and order from suppliers. Enoweb also helps me to keep track of the wines sold by the glass, how much we have sold and how much is left on stock.

For these reasons, I am confident that I can offer a reliable wine list to my guest and always guarantee them the availability of the wine they chosen.

Another important element is the actual time gained through this software. I think it would take me ten times the number of hours I now spend recording each delivery. We would probably have to hire an extra person to do this job.

90% of the labels are already in the database and, if in some cases we can’t find a wine, the technical support team is very efficient and able to add it within the day.

We have about 3500 bottles in stock with more than1200 labels. I can’t even imagine the amount of work we would have to do without Enoweb to keep the warehouse up to date.

On the floor how do you present the wine list to guests?

We give the guests the tablet with the downloaded wine list, and they can choose and interact on their own, because it is very easy and “user friendly”. Sometimes they make the choice, other times we advise them on what is best suited to their needs. With Enoweb this process is simplified and even quicker and easier: with one click you can quickly find the right wine, based on its characteristics, even if the choice is wide.

You mentioned some wine recommendations to your guests. What is their characteristic?

In a gastronomic experience, the wine component is very important to us, which is why the wine staff is constantly in direct contact with the kitchen staff. We try to find the right combination of food and wine from a conceptual point of view, and we end up trying both the dish and the wine together to make sure that there is a good match to best deliver the dining experience. The result of this teamwork is then taken to the floor and becomes good recommendation for our guests based  on the food they have chosen.

[21-05-2024]