Roberto, heritage and transmission
We arrive at the restaurant Roberto mid-morning. The scene is beautiful: the theater on Rue Pierre-Fatio is waking up. The tablecloths are unfolded and delicately placed on the tables. The silverware is lined up as the table setting takes shape. The vacuum cleaner zigzags into every nook and cranny of this impressive, one-of-a-kind restaurant. While the cooks are busy with the gastronomic preparations for lunchtime service, Marietta Carugati welcomes us with grace and elegance. Daughter of the illustrious Roberto, she is soon joined by her daughter Eleonora and son Alexandre for an intimate interview. We move to the second floor of the restaurant, out of sight. The family reunion begins, and the moment is solemn.
One-way ticket
As a preamble to the story of an extraordinary journey, we take a look back in time. At the end of the 19th century, the family left northern Italy for Switzerland. “My grandfather Carlo stopped in Geneva because he didn’t have enough money for a train ticket to Paris. As soon as he arrived, he sent for his brothers, and that’s when it all began,” recounts Marietta Carugati. The clan settled in the city of Calvin and opened successively the Milan and then the Bologna, the first Italian establishments dedicated to transalpine gastronomy.
Born in Geneva in 1912, Roberto Carugati grew up in an environment where catering was part of everyday life. An artist at heart, he quickly freed himself from the rest of his family and opened his first eponymous restaurant in 1945, then located on rue de la Madeleine. The place was old-fashioned but authentic. The owner’s friends first came to play cards before enjoying a saffron risotto served on the go. “My father dreamed of being a painter and making a living from his art. Fluent in four languages, he was a cultured man with simple tastes, who was content with little in life but loved beautiful things nonetheless. His notions of catering became clearer when he met my mother. My business acumen, the art of the table and hospitality came from her,” she confides.
Natural transmission
At the outset, Marietta Carugati was not predestined to work in the family business. It was over time that she began to pay attention to her parents’ world of gastronomy. The young restaurateur learned, watched and tasted with her father. The transmission of knowledge was self-evident. And quite naturally, she took over the leading role in the history of the Roberto restaurant (which has since moved to its current premises on rue Pierre-Fatio, opened in 1977) alongside her father, and a few years later alongside her two children, Eleonora and Alexandre. “Working as a family can be heaven or hell. For me, it’s paradise; each child does what they like. We’re very complementary and we respect each other a lot. Without my children, I wouldn’t have done anything… even though I love being the undisputed boss,” she reveals humorously. And the three protagonists, including me, were in fits of laughter.
On the children’s side, the transition is also a natural one. Eleonora Campa keeps the books and Alexandre lights the stove. You only have to look at their respective desks to see that Eleonora’s, the numbers person, is perfectly organized, while Alexandre’s, the chef, is more whimsical and less orderly. “I quickly wanted to take care of this heritage. My grandfather always told me that whatever the problems, the curtain goes up at noon,” says Eleonora. The same goes for Alexandre who, despite studying law, quickly gave in to the family siren song. “The restaurant was part of our lives, even if we didn’t work there. It was an obvious choice for me to join the adventure,” explains the chef.
A family story
Despite changing fashions, time seems to have no hold on this family institution, which continues to seduce as it did on its first day. “The heart, the welcome, the service and the cuisine; we concentrate on the essentials to maintain the tradition,” reminds Alexandre. How can you sum up an entire life in just a few lines? The interview was so rich in anecdotes, stories and emotions that we could have broken it down into several chapters. It’s with great modesty, humility and restraint that the family blows out the 80 candles of its history anchored in the hearts of the people of Geneva. When this symbolic number is announced, emotion takes over and the word pride is used… but only for a short time. “I can’t feel proud, I work… that’s all, and I try, with my children, to do the best I can. For me, this birthday is dedicated to my father”, says Marietta.
For Alexandre, this achievement is a milestone in his life, and there’s still a long way to go. “On the one hand, it’s obvious, but there’s something beyond us. We’ve reached a milestone, but the road is still ahead. Eleonora, for her part, lives these moments of work with her family with undisguised joy. “We manage to see each other every day of the week and have lunch together, even on Sundays, which is our day off,” she confides. It’s easy to understand the meaning and essence of Roberto: the name is certainly an entrepreneurial success story, but above all it’s a family success story. As its founder used to say, Roberto is a play that’s performed twice a day. Let the show go on…
