It was a sad day when Gambero Rosso di San Vincenzo closed its doors for good back in 2012. Before Massimo Bottura did his bit to push the boundaries of Italian cuisine, it was Fulvio Pierangelini who had blazed a new trail for his country’s food, and dishes like herring ravioli in burrata soup and red violets with liquorice ice cream, as well as his famous chickpea pasta, gave Gambero Rosso almost mythical status among food fanatics. Although Fulvio has moved on to other things, Italian restaurateur Paolo Fiaschi has stepped in to breathe new life into the site. Today, the restaurant is ready to start a new adventure, renamed Papaveri e Papere, and with one Fabrizio Marino at the helm.

Fabrizio worked at the likes of Baraonda in London and Artegaia in Florence before he found himself under the wing of Pietro Leemann at Joia in Milan, who was then Italy’s only Michelin-starred vegetarian chef. Pietro and Fabrizio’s mother – also a vegetarian – have both been hugely influential on his cooking style, which emphasises clean, light flavours and garden-like aesthetics above all else.

It’s fair to say that Fabrizio’s time at Joia made him into the chef he is today, and he's now at the helm of one of Italy’s most prestigious kitchens, following the literal footsteps of Fulvio Pierangelini, albeit in a new restaurant. Located right on the Mediterranean coast, south of Livorno, the menu at Papaveri e Mare will focus understandably on fish and seafood, but will surely also find room for some of Fabrizio’s signature vegetarian plates as well.

The restaurant will also feature a few dishes created in homage to Fulvio, as a celebration of his contribution to Italian cuisine. ‘To know that I will soon breathe, at least for a while, the air that transpires the walls of a kitchen that has seen miraculous work, makes me happy and proud at the same time,’ said Paolo when he took over the restaurant. ‘Fulvio Pierangelini has always been a myth and a model for me to follow.’