Paco Magri

The story of Paco Magri is full of rebirths. He has the name of a pampero and a pair flashy glasses that make him look at life always under a fresh perspective. He inherited Dordoni, the historic restaurant overlooking the countryside of Cremona from his mother, Carla, the daughter of founder Albino. Until that moment, it had been in a vintage space-time capsule, with its Sixties décor – that’s when they first opened – which was avantgarde at the time, and then became invisible. With his sister Chiara he transformed it into a point of reference for the gastronomy of the so-called East Lombardy.

It was neither magic, nor chance, but the result of patience and mistakes, of lots of ups and downs. When Paco and Chiara took over, the restaurant had lost its shine thanks to the shabby management. Today however, with Paco, who has recently reached his fifties (he was born in 1968), it’s as if it was born again.

He has created a style that doesn’t deny the territory (the home-made mostarda, for instance, is touching, and the way in which they enhance the value of freshwater fish - Paco is a passionate fisherman – is truly interesting), but also looks at international elements. Take pizza, for instance, of which Paco has become a rigorous and excellent interpreter. After a long research on flour – they now use Italian stone-milled flour – and on maturation, he has created a comprehensive list of pizzas, almost an archive of contemporary pizza-making: there’s the classic one, with no added yeast, the thicker one, the Napoli Style with a larger edge and an elastic texture, and then the focaccias, with whole-wheat spelt and rye, plus the pizza with double steam cooking. And then there’s the gluten-free pizza, baked in a separate oven. All the ingredients are local, including tomatoes and mozzarella. But most of all, there’s Paco’s enthusiasm: he changes glasses and discovers another piece of the world.