an Italian restaurant like no other in Toulouse
In the kitchen of the new Italian restaurant Mantesino, which opened its doors more than a month ago in the center of Toulouse, Francesco Formica revisits the Neapolitan specialties that rocked his childhood.
No pizza or classic pasta carbonara, the new restaurant Mantesinoopened since June 20 in the Saint-Aubin district of Toulouse, reveals many Italian brands present in the city.
Its leader and founder, Francesco Formica, wishes highlight “all the diversity of Italian cuisine”. For this, he draws inspiration from the traditional dishes of the region of Naples, his birthplace, which his parents left when he was two years old to settle in the Pink City. Even the name of the restaurant echoes its origins, “Mantesino” meaning “apron” in Neapolitan.
The Mantesino menu changes every week
The Mantesino map is not fixed. Francesco Formica renews it every week. On the menu: two starters, two main courses and two desserts for lunch, likely to add an additional choice on Thursdays and Fridays, for evening services. “I decided to limit the offer because we are a small sign of 28 covers, I am alone in the kitchen and only have one person serving”, explains the chef.
At noon this week, for example, the latter offers zucchini and ricotta balls (polpette) accompanied by a parmesan and mint cream, or even a bruschetta served with mozzarella and Parma ham, as an antipasto. In dish, dice linguine with octopus and Sicilian capers or fusilli with oyster mushroomsgarnished with caramelized onions and Piedmont hazelnuts.
To finish on a sweet note, the choice can be a ricotta cake or pannacotta with red fruits. “Customers like to try new recipes. They appreciate that my cuisine is different from what we are used to seeing in all Italian restaurants,” underlines Francesco Formica.
Local and seasonal products
If the menu changes every week, it’s also because the chef works only with seasonal products. He obtains “as much as possible” from local breeders and producers. “The meat comes from the Basque Country or Aveyron. I buy it from the butcher who is located 50 meters from the restaurant”, maintains Francesco Formica. He also gets fish from Occitan auctions, a supplier present at the Toulouse MIN, whose products come from the Mediterranean. “Fruits and vegetables, too, presented from the South-West of France”, he adds.
For the rest, the chef brings in products from Italy. Like mozzarella, Parma ham or fresh pasta that he will use to concoct his dishes.
“With a kitchen like that, you can open your restaurant”
With the opening of Mantesino, Francesco Formica takes his first steps in the world of restoration. Until the end of 2021, he was an engineer, “more for financial comfort than passion”, he admits. Auto what he really likes is cooking. “I had been hesitating to get started for four years, then a friend encouraged me to sign up for the show Top Chef objectivebroadcast on M6”, he says.
After getting the entry ticket to the contest of the hand of chef Philippe Etchebestthe Toulousain won the tests of other amateur cooks, until that of the weekly final, where he was eliminated.
However, during the filming of the show, the starred chef highly complimented his plates, going so far as to point out to him “that with a kitchen like that, I could open my restaurant”, recalls Francesco Formica. “I used to have people close to me encourage me to open my business, but here the advice came from a professional chef. Then I saw that I was able to step out of my comfort zone and create original dishes. It gave me the confidence I lacked to create Mantesino,” he concludes.
Practical information : Mantesino8 rue Maury, Toulouse.
Open for lunch from Monday to Friday, then in the evening on Thursdays and Fridays. Reservations on 05 31 54 13 29.