If he fails to revive the fortunes of Napoli football, where he was called to replace Carlo Ancelotti, Rino Gattuso will always be able to devote himself… to fish. Seriously, the new coach of the Neapolitan team, who as a player was the flagship of Milan coached by Ancelotti himself and world champion in 2006 with the national team, has already given himself to fish for almost ten years, since in 2010 opened, together with the pastry chef Andrea Bianchi, the bistro that bears their name: a place entirely dedicated to fish, which since 2014 has been located in Gallarate, just outside Milan.
The Gattuso & Bianchi Bistrot, while offering affordable prices, looks like a real food and wine boutique linked to the sea. In fact, the place is both a fish market, where you can always find fresh fish caught in the Mediterranean; both gastronomy, where take away dishes are prepared and products from the gourmet line are sold with the original Gattuso & Bianchi brand; finally, both a restaurant for lunch and dinner, with a menu updated every day based on the catch. All under the banner of quality and competence, given that the catering staff is made up of 17 gastronomic experts.
Of course, there is no shortage of desserts either, since the partner of the new blue coach is owner of the historic pastry shop Le Torri di Gallarate, founded by the Bianchi family in 1934 and specialized in amaretti biscuits. However, in the Bistrot, in the gastronomy department, the unfailing tiramisù reigns supreme, while as a dessert at lunch or dinner, all the pastries of Le Torri are available in rotation. The absolute protagonist, however, remains the fish, and perhaps for this reason it was destiny that Gattuso ended up coaching in a seaside city like Naples.
In the Bistrot the fish is only served fresh, or in the absence of it "frozen but with original products of excellent quality", the website is keen to specify. At lunch and dinner you are spoiled for choice, while in the gastronomy stand out for example the gurnard, the rich foil or the tuna steak, or the scallops au gratin and the snails alla bourguignonne. “Every day – explains the site – we are committed to sourcing raw materials of the highest quality. And when we cook them, we do it by combining ancient traditions with the most modern techniques".
The prestigious Bistrot, frequented in the past - when Ringhio was still playing - by champions of the caliber of David Beckham and Ronaldinho, is not the only one owned by the former Calabrian footballer: Gattuso coached in Pisa and right there, in Calambrone, in 2017 opened the Osteria del Mare, following the philosophy of the Bistrot. Who knows if now, at the helm of the Neapolitan club, Rino Gattuso will decide to give a touch of Neapolitan style to the menu as well of his restaurant in Gallarate. We would not be surprised, in the short term, to perhaps see a scialattiello with seafood appear, or a dish of “arreganate” anchovies. It would be the right tribute to a square that has a good football and gastronomic tradition.
