JournalStories
Forty Hands: A Morning with the Brigade
From the 6:00 bread to the 12:15 line-up, a morning in the kitchen at Via Maggio.
28 September 2026 · 9 min read
At six in the morning the only light in the kitchen is above the bread oven. Davide Lo Russo, our sous chef, has been here since half past five.
By seven the pasta section has arrived. Kenji Arai rolls the first sfoglia of the day by hand, on a wooden board that belonged to Marta’s grandmother.
“The day is decided before the first guest sits down. Service is only the part you see.”
At a quarter past twelve the whole brigade stands at the pass. Marta reads the reservations aloud, every allergy and every anniversary, and then the doors open.
