The Oscar winner collaborates with chef Gennaro Esposito to open Sophia Loren Original Italian Food.
Sophia Loren Original Italian Food opens this week in Florence, the first outpost of a group of restaurants offering food that’s deeply rooted in the traditions of Campania.
There are many places dedicated to the great star of Italian and international cinema all over the world, but this is the first project born with her consent and collaboration. “This new adventure is the natural evolution of my way of facing life with curiosity and enthusiasm,” says Loren. “For me, living means having new experiences, getting passionate, experimenting, working on new projects because all this is a pretext to get back into the game, to continue learning. When the project was proposed to me, I had no doubts because this restaurant embodies some of the things I love most: Italian cuisine, the moments of conviviality linked to it and then several of my characters are in some way linked to the kitchen.”
Gennaro Esposito, chef of the two-star Michelin-rated Torre del Saracino near Naples created the restaurant menu while Francesco Martucci, the pizzaiolo behind I Masanielli in Caserta, handles the pizza. Pastry chef Carmine Di Donna, a long-time colleague of Esposito, oversees the dolci.
The new restaurant and pizzeria opened its doors the day after the 2021 Oscars – the first day of the reopening of restaurants in Italy’s so-called yellow zone, and it marks the first in a series of international outposts.