A passionate and devoted advocate of authentic Italian cooking, chef Marco Roccasalvo runs the award-winning Campo de’ Fiori Bistro Market in Bray with his wife Laura. Also the author of two books, Marco talked to us about his adherence to Italian traditions, the importance of carefully sourcing good quality ingredients and his mission to educate people in Ireland about the right way to eat Italian food.
Marco, tell us what brought you to Bray
When I left Italy in 2001 I wanted a fresh start and I also wanted to open a restaurant, so I sat in the car and I drove until I stopped some place I liked! I came to Ireland and after working in Athlone and Dublin I opened the first Campo de’ Fiori in Bray in 2004. I was later involved in opening a small market where we sold Italian salami, cheeses and olives. On Fridays we presented aperitivo with prosecco when that was still something new and we had people coming from all around to try it. We eventually opened another restaurant on the seafront, which closed at the end of 2014, and now we’re doing the best of both menus in the original place. We do a lot of seafood and it’s a great menu, but I’m going to change it slightly because the season brings with it new ingredients.
Your Italian heritage is critical to your menu
I really care about my traditions, I love what I do and I love to present Italian food, as it should be. My aim is to present an authentic product, so our menu is not the usual one of pasta with chicken or pizza with pineapple. In my opinion there are too many places where Italian food is presented in the wrong way. In Italy pasta is never served next to the fillet steak! I’ve had people send back dishes because they say, “This is not carbonara because there is no cream in it”. We try to educate people the right way to eat Italian food and it’s not always easy! We’re doing more comfort food now than before so we’ve moved to very traditional dishes like lasagna but obviously presented in the Italian way – so no salad or chips. We use only topside beef to make it and the pasta’s homemade.
Is it hard trying to find good quality produce?
I do a lot of research when I start to make a menu. When we buy ingredients we’re looking for original authentic products, so we have a few Italian suppliers. A guy in Northern Italy makes us very nice special cheeses dipped in Barolo, or wrapped in chestnut leaves, quite different than what you find in the market here. We also work with Kish Fish and we get great Irish beef from FD Meats here in Bray. Buffalo mozzarella is very popular here, but in Italy the cow mozzarella is more common. In Italy buffalo mozzarella has five or six days of shelf life but outside Italy it has 25 days, so it’s a completely different product. We decided to avoid selling it until we found a company bringing it in every week. It’s more expensive but what you get is an incredible product, and obviously we always explain to our customers why our caprese costs a little bit more.
You’ve written two recipe books. What is your favourite recipe?
My favourite dish is tonnarelli with lobster. That’s the dish that I love to do all the time and it’s one of our signature dishes in Campo de’ Fiori. The lobster in Ireland is top quality, the best in the world really and I get it from a family in Bulloch Harbour. It’s made with homemade pasta, half a lobster and I make the ragout with prawns. It’s just simple and fantastic.
You’re clearly very passionate about what you do
Well, I believe when you visit a restaurant for dinner it should always be a good experience. What we do is to try to present the most authentic food that you can find on the market because we believe that brings our traditions to the table. Once people are smiling and happy it makes every one in the restaurant happy. Compliments are very welcome at Campo de’ Fiori!
Campo de’ Fiori Bistro Market 1 Albert Avenue Bray Co. Wicklow
Tel: 01 276 4257
Words: Martina Murray
Image: Marco Roccasalvo
