Matteo Baldi, from the kitchen to the dining room: the strange case of Epirus in Rome
Matteo Baldi is one of the owners of Epiro, located in Piazza Epiro, near the Basilica of San Giovanni in Rome. He established himself at this six-year-old restaurant and has been at the forefront since the very beginning, drawing on his diverse experience in Rome and the surrounding area.
There was the summer cuisine in Calabria, and there was the battle-hardened restaurant on the outskirts of Rome, the gourmet experience at Convivio, and then the experience at Acquolina with Giulio Terrinoni. It was a bit of everything, in short, including the course at Gambero Rosso, the time abroad, the existential crisis with the university interlude. A good apprenticeship, started early, which one day leads you to say, when you meet some reliable and serious colleagues: "Let's open a restaurant."
So far, it's been a smooth ride. After a few years, however, Epiro changes its approach, from a more gourmet cuisine to a restaurant closer to Roman tradition. The partners reunite, and the tables are turned. This leads to Matteo moving from the kitchen to the dining room. Yes, from the kitchen to the dining room.
A rather unusual metamorphosis. Working in the kitchen and in the dining room are two different professions, requiring two different skills, attitudes, and preparation. Good communication between the two areas is essential, and it's not uncommon for roles to swap or overlap from time to time. It's more unlikely, however, that someone who has always been a cook will one day find himself a waiter.
How did it happen? When the other Epiro partners left Rome and opened Epiro in Nice, Matteo was the one who stayed behind at the restaurant. Marco Pucciotti also joined him, especially in communications. "I've always wanted to make my mark here, in Rome." So the most practical solution seemed to be moving to a more 360-degree perspective on things to do, beyond orders, administration, invoicing, payments, supplies, and staff. "I didn't want to stop cooking, but at that moment I had the opportunity to explore something else, to explore new things, and to work on the management side of my business."
Matteo then made a strategic and operational decision to better manage the restaurant, which, at the time, he was the sole partner managing. The then sous chef, Michele De Chirico, took over the kitchen, and Matteo fully embraced the new role.
The first approaches are timid. How do you learn a new profession? A bit by stealing the attention of colleagues, first Alessandra Viscardi and then Morena Micali. "They used to beat me because I stood too close to the customers." Talking to people seems like a daunting challenge at first; your position at the table needs to be adjusted. Recognizing customers' faces or the voices on the phone, remembering their names and tastes, understanding that the person behind the counter also comes for a chat, taking orders by hand. Knowing how to accept criticism, which in the dining room is immediately apparent, even if it's just a crooked mouth, while in the kitchen you read it on Tripadvisor or filter it out from your dining roommates.
Working in the dining room becomes, above all, about working with people and developing one's own personal talent for hospitality. Matteo, always somewhat introverted at work, must and wants to find the resources to communicate directly with customers. He begins doing so both inside and outside the restaurant, quickly receiving positive feedback for the naturalness and enthusiasm with which he approaches the task. "It's a bit like when you first start out in the kitchen and you love everything, even chopping potatoes." Knowing the kitchen proves to be a winning strategy, because he's more confident in explaining dishes, ingredients, and preparation methods, and consequently, can offer some good advice. At Epiro, he finds it easier because the place is intimate and seats are limited. "I would never have done this for anyone else, if not for Epiro."
And the kitchen? Besides always working closely with Michele, cooking remains my first love. "Do you know what my father did? Gianni made the menu; every week he wrote down on a piece of paper the dishes he would cook for lunch and dinner. So my classmates had sofficini, I had broth made every day and minestra. I come from a family of great home cooks, who collected recipes for "Baldi-style" dishes in notebooks.
Maybe this is also why Matteo always wears his chef's jacket in the locker room, to take it out when the right occasion arises.