Four friends at the bar, which is not a bar, or rather not yet because the project is to evolve with a cafeteria and table service. They are Alessio Del Rosario30 years old in October, and Valerio Foscarithe two owners and creators of Curné – The art of the croissantmore Eduardo e Matteoemployees, the first graduated from hotel management, sommelier and specialized in the dining room (internship with Niko Romito in Castel di Sangro and at Les Paillotes and at Regina Elena in Pescara), the second who cut his teeth at Carpe Diem – Diversamente Pizza (a high-level pizzeria in Montesilvano, 2 slices in the Pizzerie di Red shrimp) and helps out with sales. «It may be that we don’t come from the restaurant industry, but we are a familythere is a good atmosphere in our laboratory. Eduardo and Matteo work a few hours and our goal is to make them feel good, as we do. It is the most important thing”.
The story of Curné
The laboratory Alessio is talking about is the “crazy idea” of two young people passionate about catering but even before that about pastry making, coming from a completely different background. Specifically economy (for him) and statistica (for Valerio). After having worked in their respective fields mainly as consultants, nourishing in the meantime with courses (also online) and trips their other interest, they took a sabbatical year of full immersion at the end of which, on via dei Bastioni, the Curné window opens. Only one window, with an exposed laboratory and limited production but a great desire to grow. «I took several courses in the area and had work experience in local pastry shops and ice cream shops, and then I travelled – and travelled – a lot, to taste and get ideas» says Alessio. «The Pharmacy of Change in Turin where last year I tried the cubic croissant, Conti & Co in Rome (2 loaves in the Pane & Panettieri d’Italia guide), where I was struck by bread-making, and abroad, in France and then in Vienna, in particular Parém, where I was very impressed by the type of workmanship in a modern key. And then, the real turning point, a consultancy from Davide Del Chierico, a teacher specialized in French pastry making at the Valerio Barralis Pastry Academy in Magenta”.
The first Viennoiserie in Pescara
The choice of location was not made by chance. «We studied the city and realized that in Pescara Vecchia, once the heart of the nightlife and today much less lively, there was space to do something different. The “window” format was immediately likedthe shopkeepers in the area were happy because we brought a breath of fresh air and a few more passers-by. Many come to get a croissant from us and a coffee somewhere else”. For the summer, moreover, the first of Curnè, Alessio and Valerio have also doubled the location: “From 7:30 to 12:30 we are there, from 21:30 to 3 (even later on weekends) we are on the Matteotti seafront, in front of the Nave di Cascella (the most central center of Pescara’s summer seaside traffic, ndr). The guys from Mercato del Pane came to visit us here (city branch of Montesilvano, 3 loaves in the Pane & Panettieri d’Italia guide). He liked us.”
Curné’s offer
Yes, because, Alessio continues, there is a large portion of customers who work in the restaurant industry. “Someone complimented us because our croissant reminds them of the authentic French one. We never stop training, documenting, experimenting to arrive at an ever-better product”. Today at Curné you can find very flaky croissants to be filled as desired, chocolate bread with two bars of 46% dark chocolate, swivelsa reinterpretation of the New York roll, the braid (not classic with chocolate cream and raisins, but neutral to be filled as you like), the Swiss bread with a particular lamination on the surface and then the infamous cube “which we were not really interested in, we put it on the menu to attract customers and make ourselves known”, empty in this case too. Plus the savoury croissants (ham and provola, pecorino abruzzese or caprese but we are working on something more original, for example with garlic and confit cherry tomatoes).
Ingredients? Wise and thoughtful without exaggeration. Corman butter, flour from Molino Pasini, fresh milk and eggs, fruit from the fruit and vegetable market that is just a step away from them in view of the jams in the pipeline for the next few months. Plus a custard – with vanilla pods, obviously – which is very popular, and which once, Alessio always says, given that the sweet “wrappers” had run out, it was sold “on the plate”to be eaten by the spoonful. Prices: from 2 euros for a cinnamon roll to 4.50 for a pain suisse. «Our studies have given us a careful eye on issues related to marketing, food cost, packaging. We care a lot about the carefully designed packaging, it serves to impress the name and the brand». Alessio immediately specified that he feels more like an entrepreneur than a pastry chef, and who didn’t start “ready” even with the crazy desire to improve, grow, experiment. But with humility and an open mind you can get very far. And here, less than a year after opening, there is already a café on the horizon.
