Marco Mancini

 Credits Brambilla-Serrani

 Credits Brambilla-Serrani

Verdura Golf & Spa Resort

Strada Statale 115, Km 131
Sciacca (Agrigento)
Sicily, Italy

«Dining room and kitchen are two impetuous currents of water that need to flow at the same speed. The maître, therefore, needs to move in unison with the chef». And if the chef is called Fulvio Pierangelini, he runs, and so does Marco Mancini: and at 28 he’s already the manager (since 2011, after being number two for a few months) of the Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, a luxury five star hotel, part of the Rocco Forte group, overlooking the Mediterranean sea, a few kilometres east of Sciacca, in the province of Agrigento.

For Mancini, born in 1985, this means being in charge of a team that during the high season reaches 70 people, divided between four restaurants and five bars. Is it heavy? «Of course, it is demanding. I now mostly look after the financial management. In other words, I feel partly a classic maître, partly a true manager. But I never give up if the person washing the dishes is sick. I mostly have controlling tasks, but I’m ready to intervene, to be operational and not just organizational. After all, working in a business like ours is much different from a city-restaurant».

Like those from which he started from, after attending the Cavalcanti catering school in Naples, where he was born: for two years (2003-2005) he was demi chef de rang at Grande Albergo Vesuvio, then came his first job in England, as chef de rang at restaurant San Carlo in Manchester. Here he met the Rocco Forte group, which hired him at The Lowry Hotel Rocco Forte Collection – same role and same city. He spent five years in the UK, receiving the necessary awards for a triumphing return to his country. In 2011 he moved from island to island, and landed in Sicily. But how’s working in close contact with a giant such as Pierangelini? «He is a perfectionist, he loves doing things in the best way, he is very demanding, first of all with himself, and then with others too. This is why I never consider any criticism coming from him as negative, but as a way of growing together». Maître and chef in unison, indeed.

Has participated in

Identità Milano


He was born in 1985 but he’s already at the helm of a team of 70 people in a Sicilian resort that belongs to the Forte group. Half manager, half maître, he has to manage 4 restaurants, 5 bars and, in the kitchen, a giant such as executive chef Fulvio Pierangelini

by

Carlo Passera

journalist born in 1974, for many years he has covered politics, mostly, and food in his free time. Today he does exactly the opposite and this makes him very happy. As soon as he can, he dives into travels and good food. Identità Golose's editor in chief