Valerio Serino & Lucia de Luca

Indeed, Lucia and Valerio, the couple behind Il Mattarello Pasta in Torvehallerne and Tèrra Restaurant in Ryesgade, may be some of the most captivating people you have yet to hear of. And their restaurant may be one of the most surprising culinary experiences you have yet to have. 

As you listen to their captivating story unfold, you start to grasp the magnitude of how a disdain for food and plastic waste led to the birth of a sustainability manifesto and a restaurant highly praised by international media. And you realize that sometimes the biggest change comes from the humblest of beginnings.

“We started our culinary career making fresh pasta at Papirøen,” recalls co-owner Lucia De Luca. “We built this cute, little 9 square meter wooden house with our savings of 3,000 Danish kroner. The pots and pans we got from IKEA, and the name, Il Mattarello, is the Italian term for our most basic tool, the rolling pin. It was a humble beginning but we went from nothing to selling 600 plates a day, really quickly.”

And it was in this rapid expansion of their own pasta adventure and the street food scene around them that the couple noticed a worrying tendency. They had the simplest and cheapest of operations. They took fresh flour and transformed it into pasta. They added some tomato, oil and garlic. And ended up with no waste. Yet they would see food waste all around them. People were asking for bigger and bigger portions and much of them were eventually thrown away along with their plastic containers. How could you want so much and eventually just throw it away, they questioned, and began offering smaller sizes as an immediate solution. If you were still hungry, you could always get another one. 

how past Family ideals helped shape the present and future

Looking back, in the couple’s own eyes, this was the defining moment when a quest for a better world through better food started. Through one small conscious choice that sparked thought and intention. Yet the ideas and philosophies that helped shape the quest went back much further. As if a brush with modern consumerism and greed rekindled a love for classic values and modesty. “We got it from our family,” Lucia’s soon to be husband Valerio Serino offers, “from my grandmother, for example. The respect for nature. The respect for ingredients. We all grew up with this mentality. But unlike many Italians and world citizens, we carry it on. It is not easy amongst all these other people, but someone has to set an example.”

It was this basic belief that someone had to set an example that led the young couple to move on. From simply doing pasta to trying to change the world around them. To creating their own restaurant concept deeply rooted in sustainability, zero waste and an endearing mix of tradition and innovation. The idea, at the same time quite simple yet horribly complicated, was to create a sustainable dining experience with absolutely no waste of food or plastic involved in any part of the process.

Read also: Tèrra - When sustainability and zero-waste becomes art

After much planning and even more work, the young couple’s restaurant, Terrà, opened in Ryesgade in September 2017 with the goal of mixing Italian flavors with local, biodynamic, seasonal ingredients in an entirely new sustainable way. To mix classic approaches to sustainability and preservation of flavor with truly innovative dishes and a carbon-neutral footprint. Vegetables were prioritized and animal protein greatly reduced and based entirely on lesser used cuts of meat and sustainable fish caught in local waters. All in an effort to raise guests’ awareness to a more sustainable and conscious way of eating and living.

Fighting the odds and Living the dream

It was, in the beginning, a rough ride, setting an unplotted course across uncharted seas, learning the processes, defining the experience and constantly learning as you went along. With not much public or media recognition to cheer them on. Yet, here, almost 4 years, the goals and dreams seem within reach: Tèrra is now a true zero food-waste restaurant, offering a seasonal tasting menu mainly based on vegetarian dishes inspired by Italian culinary tradition. Any and all leftovers are used in other dishes or to make byproducts until only fibers are left to become compost for the small garden in the back yard where aromatic herbs and seasonal vegetables for the restaurant are grown. And recognition for the couple and their efforts is finally starting to pour in from all sides.

It seems strange that attention and recognition would initially be sparse for the couple who in their own words describe their venture this way: “We think outside the box. We keep surprising, provoking and having fun through innovation and creativity. We deliver our passion and our belief. Tèrra is a minimalist, innovative and contemporary Italian experience. It’s young and unconventional.” 

This is, however, perhaps exactly why many foodies have still to discover this hidden gem of a Copenhagen restaurant. Tèrra was, perhaps, on paper a little too contemporary, a little too provoking and a little too foresighted for the average Danish foodie to intuitively seek out. It was not until a raving review from internationally acclaimed Italian food guide Gambero Rosso was published that praise and happy diners descended upon the small eatery in Ryesgade. And thank God for that.

Tèrra is a place that needs to be experienced for the sheer complexity and dedication they bring to the world of sustainable, plant-forward cuisine. While the owners and driving forces behind the movement, Lucia and Valerio, are someone we could all need to sit down and learn from.