Luca and Gianfranco with Domenico Iozzi

Eccentric, extrovert, and bombastic Gianfranco Vissani with a love for scarlet leather shoes was to the kitchen-born on  November 22, 1951.Beginning in 1963  his father Mario was the chef/owner of a simple country-style restaurant, first named “Da Mario”, then “Il Lago” and finally “Il Padrino”. Located in his tiny medieval hometown of Civitella del Lago on Lake Corbora near Orvieto in Umbria, Mario’s customers were local fishermen and Sunday trippers. Gianfranco started working there at age 13. Then after graduating from hotel school in Spoleto in 1967, another medieval town in Umbria world famous for its annual Arts Festival, he gained experience by working in the kitchens of the Excelsior Hotel in Venice, the Miramonti Majestic in Cortina D’Ampezzo, The Grand Hotel in Florence, and Zì Teresa in Naples before returning home in 1973.
That year ever-curious Gianfranco demonstrated his newly-acquired Avant-garde skills in an airless, white-washed open-kitchen room adjacent to his father’s premises. I was one of his first guests: the dishes of each of his several courses were inspired by a period of Classical music played chronologically in the background: Medieval and Renaissance, Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic, and 20th-century. The meal was a crescendo—each unique dish more imaginative than the one before!
A year later Gianfranco took over his father’s restaurant, renamed it “Casa Vissani” because his parents, his wife Eleonora, and his pastry-chef sister Lucia all collaborated. From then on career as a chef, writer, food critic and television personality took off and is still going full blast. The year 1982 was particularly crucial: the magazine L’Espresso restaurant “Guida d’Italia” voted him Italy’s best chef with 20/20 points along with Heinz Beck of “La Pergola” in Rome and Annie Feolde of “Enoteca Pinchiorri” in Florence, an acknowledgment he kept for more than 20 years. Presently he dips in at 19/20.
His notoriety grew during the 1990s thanks to his regular appearances on television (Unamattina 1997) and continued into the next millennium (Domenica In from 2001, Linea Verde from 2002, as a pioneer food critic/judge on La Prova del Cuoco, 2008-10 and again 2010-11) not to omit his several books: La tradizione regionale nella cucina di Vissani (1998), La Grande Cucina di Gianfranco Vissani and I Segreti di un grande cuoco (1999), Mezzanotte e contorni le grandi abbuffate notturne (2000), Il Vissani (2002), Gianfranco Vissani a casa tua (2007), and La Solitudine dei Primi (2010).
His culinary brilliance was also awarded one Michelin star in 1998, another in 1999 (withdrawn in 2019), and in 2012 the Gambero Rosso guide judged him the best chef in Italy with 95/100 points. The year before he’d moved temporarily to Gravina in Puglia in the province of Bari because the Government agency in charge of administrating  property confiscated from the Mafia entrusted him with running the restaurant “Antica Masseria dell’alta Murgia”. In 2103,  since “Casa Vissani”’s steep prices range from 120 for 4 dishes euros per person to 250 euros for the “pacchetto completo”, both without beverages, he opened three moderately-priced restaurants, all called “L’Altro Vissani”, in Orvieto, Cortina, and Capri.

Just outside

The Bar

From the entrance

Last but certainly not least is Vissani’s recent venture, “Il Tuo Vissani”, in the planning stages for many years but which he finally officially opened on February 27, 2020 with his son Luca, long-since “Casa Vissani”’s maître and business manager, and Calabrian dairy product entrepreneur/luxury hotelier Domenico Iozzi. Located on two floors plus the basement wine cellar of 400 labels available for tastings and private parties, at Piazza San Pantaleo 4, a two-minute walk from Piazza Navona, it’s like no other restaurant in the world because it offers every possible gastronomic desire nonstop from noon on. Here Vissani says his aim “is to be democratic” and to relinquish the limelight making his strictly Italian ingredients from small producers and his guests the protagonists. Facing the entrance next to the well-furbished bar is a mural by artist Leonardo Spina of St. Pantaleone, born an ancient Greek doctor but here dressed as a modern chef with the face said to be Camillo Negroni, father of the cocktail, but in my opinion with a striking resemblance to Luca Vissani. Its décor is minimalist modern with shining metals, black wooden tables, and upholstery  in bright red (Gianfranco’s favorite color). Dishes are often placed at the center of the table to-be-shared so the atmosphere is homey and the prices accessible to all. Take-out and home-delivery too. Closed Tuesdays. Vissani plans to open other “Il Tuo Vissani” if this one is successful.

The team

The menus are:
“VissaniLive” (12-14:30 PM): a brunch of a pasta and dessert (18 euros not including beverage). You can add an “extra” cutting board of ham, salami and cheese (16 euros) or a main dish of meat or fish (25 euros). Glass of wine costs 8 euros.

ham and salami platter

cheese platter

Merenda (3-5:30PM): toasts, sandwiches and cutting boards (8-12 euros), sweets (ice cream, cookies and pastries, 5 to 8 euros) with freshly-made juices, tea, or coffee.
OredOro or “Happy Hour (6-8PM): 6 cicchetti (Venetian-style snacks) with a surprise 7th plus a cocktail or glass of wine (25 euros).
From 8:30 PM with live music Vissani Smart (55 euros): antipasto at center of table plus a pasta and dessert; VissaniSmart Plus (70 euros) antipasto, two pastas or a second dish of your choice, and dessert.
In Family, Sunday brunch, free choice from buffet, with a pasta, main dish, and dessert served at table (50 euros). Children’s menu: 25 euros.

Tripe-another typical Roman dish

Fried vegetables-a typical Roman dish

Of course closed during lockdown and August, it’s now back full swing, so on your next trip to Rome, hopefully soon, be sure to stop in. All photos by Alberto Blasetti.

Tiramisù-Italy’s favorite national dessert