Romance is in the air this month, but the family behind Italian restaurant group, Da Paolo tells Chong Seow Wei how theirs is a love story about an unconditional devotion to food, family and authenticity.
Ask for a recommendation of an Italian restaurant in town and Da Paolo would likely make the list. Once a humble trattoria in Tanjong Pagar, it is now a recognised brand and name of a thriving food company, the Da Paolo Group. Despite having since grown into a business with four dining concepts and a fan base that stretches regionally from Jakarta to Hong Kong, the company hasn’t once departed from its initial vision to provide its diners with simple and unpretentious Italian food of uncompromised quality.
Keeping its businesses on the same track is the close-knit family behind them. Italian native Paolo and Singapore-born Judie Scarpa founded the company in 1989, and have since 2010 passed on primary leadership responsibilities to their two children Andrea and Francesca, and son-in-law Guillaume Pichoir, while family discussions continue to be held when it comes to planning of key strategies.
The Simple Life
Simple meals have triumphed with Paolo and Judie even before the first Trattoria Da Paolo was conceptualised; meals during their dating days were mostly handmade by Paolo, who grew up observing his professionally-trained mother and aunt bake and cook before going on to hone his pasta- and pastry-making skills at London’s reputable Italian restaurant Cecconi’s. “We treasure good homecooked food, and we also could not afford dining at restaurants when we were dating,” says Judie. The two recipes that still warm their hearts today are of fresh pasta served with green peas, butter, sage and a dash of Parmesan cheese, as well as of flaky pastries topped with fresh whipped cream and bananas or strawberries.
For Andrea and Francesca, who work closely as executive chef and product manager of the family’s restaurant business in coming up with menus and new products, it’s a matter of getting the basics right and keeping their food true and wholesome. “The signature items my dad created remain on our menu unchanged, because they are as popular today as they were in the past, if not more so now,” says Andrea, the younger of the two siblings, who also oversees the company’s two central kitchens in Woodlands. “Da Paolo is about being organic, not in the sense of the certification, but in the sense of offering fresh products that have not been tampered with too much or whose quality have been compromised.”
Guillaume and Francesca got married in 2010, and that same year he was asked by his in-laws to join the group as chief executive. “Singaporeans like good food and Da Paolo has always been about that, with different settings, different concepts, but honest, non-overpriced fare,” the Frenchman observes. The Da Paolo Group now runs gourmet deli chain called Gastronomia, a modern European restaurant at Rochester Park named Bistro Bar, a pizza and salad specialty restaurant called Pizza Bar, and a catering arm.
Back at home, meals are also kept quick and easy, mostly taken on by Francesca—who lives with her parents at the family’s laidback Balinese-inspired home at Bukit Timah with Guillaume and their sons, two-year-old Malo and six-month-old Arno—or Andrea whenever he visits during the weekends. Meals typically comprise hearty, comfort food such as cheese platters, barbecued meat, and homemade pastas and pizzas.
