Andrea and his signature tiramisu. Credit: Katrina Santoro.
Like so many young Italians, Andrea left home in search of a better opportunity. A spur of the moment decision landed him in Glasgow. A pandemic changed his career trajectory. Now he plans to open his own restaurant and showcase lesser-known style of Italian cuisine.
There’s a distinctive smell in Govan. Today, it’s a pleasant one. The scent of pasta sauce fills the air as I reach the home of Andrea Casolare. The 33 year-old chef has been living in Glasgow for the last seven years. I’m keen to eat, but first I need to find out just what it is he’s doing here.
The younger of two brothers, Andrea comes from a close family and never had dreams of living abroad. “I’m very proud to be Neapolitan,” he tells me. “I’m from Naples Naples. The city.”
After graduating with a degree in architecture, he struggled to find a job in his field. This is a familiar situation for many. Over the past decade, almost a quarter of a million young Italians have left the country for economic reasons.
With this setback, his attitude started to change. “I wanted to leave the bubble. The bubble of university, of family, of the city. To have a challenge in my life.”
He knew someone from high school who had moved to Glasgow. After getting in touch, the decision happened very suddenly. “It was spur of the moment,” he says. “In September, I was thinking about moving. In October, I moved.”
His rationale was clear: “It’s my life, I want to try it. If it goes badly, I can always go back home. Maybe I’ll learn something, like what not do next time.”
In the autumn of 2019, he came to Glasgow and found work as a waiter. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. “I thought I knew English, but actually I couldn’t understand anything. I thought this was a dialect,” he laughs.
He credits his flatmates with encouraging him to speak English. Coming from Czechia, they understood the language barrier all too well.
With this newfound confidence, he started to explore the city. What’s the first thing that surprised him about Glasgow? The drunk people.
He explains that in Italy, drunk people you meet in public tend to be aggressive. But here, he had the opposite experience. “They’re very polite and friendly. Nice and smiley. Everyone gets along like brother and sister.”
When pressed on this, he tells me he’s only ever been to pubs around the city centre and the West End.
“The best food you can eat doesn’t come in a box“
Just as he was finding his footing, the pandemic hit. He had switched from waiter to chef just weeks before, so his job was safe.
His plan was to start in hospitality and find something related to architecture. But after COVID, so much time had passed that he felt he was “out of the market.”
He bounced around a few Italian restaurants, a jack of all trades. He’s spent the last 5 months as a supervisor pizzaiolo — that’s Italian for “pizza chef.”
After some soul-searching, he decided that he wanted to stay in the industry. And that he wanted to eventually work for himself. “I work with a lot of Italians who say ‘Look, we’ve made a thousand pizzas, a thousand pastas. Why can’t we do our own thing?'”
He acknowledges that this is easier said than done, but he feels that it’s worth the risk. “I want to make the things that I like most…It’s not to do competition or to be rich, it’s just to see if maybe my way of doing things can work.”
Italian restaurants aren’t exactly in short supply. So how does he plan to set himself apart?
The answer is simple. Literally.
“Cucina povera” describes a style of Italian cooking that translates to “poor kitchen.” These dishes use cheap, seasonal ingredients. The focus is on grains and pulses, with little meat to be found. But don’t worry, there’s still some cheese.
Some examples of this style include pastina and pasta e ceci. Never heard of these dishes? They’re not usually found on restaurant menus. This is true home cooking.
“The dishes my mum cooked every day when I came back from school. With lentils, with chickpeas, with broth,” Andrea explains.
He wants to offer food that is tasty and healthy at the same time, something he thinks other Italian restaurants don’t really do. Pulses cost a lot less than meat. His plan is to pass these savings along to the customer. Nutritious, delicious and cheap.
“Trust me. If you eat the cucina povera, you can come every day.”
But you’ll have to come. He doesn’t plan doing takeaway. “The best food you can eat doesn’t come in a box. It’s always in a plate that comes warm straight from the kitchen.”
It’s a nice idea, but is it marketable? I spoke with Glasgow-based food blogger and food judge Kris Munro to get his take. Kris has been blogging about the Glasgow culinary scene for over a decade. He supports local businesses while documenting the best the city has to offer.
He prides himself on giving honest reviews, so I’m curious to see how he rates Andrea’s chances.
While he acknowledges that there are already a lot of Italian restaurants in the city, he doesn’t think it’s a problem. “Each one has its own unique style…it really just depends on what you’re in the mood for.”
But would Glaswegians be willing to sample the cucina povera? Kris thinks so.
“I do think this is a good idea and it’s something new for people to try, and if the food is really good, I’m sure it would be a great success.”
Kris is quick to point out the importance of social media and word of mouth.
These are points Andrea has already considered. “Every time a customer leaves a good review, it’s not just five stars, it’s free advertising,” he says.
But Andrea thinks his biggest challenge is finding the right people. He’s interested in hiring young people who are eager to learn, but not necessarily students. “If a young person is studying, it’s not fair to expect them to work until 11 or 12 at night.”
He knows that some of the people he hires may not continue working in the industry forever. “At least here they can learn the ethic of work…these things come first before doing different jobs.”
Work ethic isn’t the only thing he wants to leave his future employees with. He’d like his staff to learn a bit of Italian. “Then when they get older, they’ll go visit Italy later in life and they’ll already know some Italian. I absorbed their culture living here and they can absorb a little bit of mine.”
I can only handle so much talk of pasta. It’s time for the real thing.
Pasta arrabiata with focaccia on the side. Meat-free and full of flavour. If this is what’s in store at his future restaurant, there’s no doubt Glaswegians will be eating it up.
