Reaching your 90th birthday is a milestone and not something to be taken for granted. That’s why this month, we've decided to sit down and interview the co-founder of La Gaffe, Bernardo Stella.
So who is the man? Poet, playwright, entrepreneur, raconteur, husband, father, Heath rambler, mushroom forager, marathon runner…honestly, it’s hard to know where to begin with this Italian gentleman, who’s a veritable legend in Hampstead. Still, let’s try, over a cappuccino at the business he started up way back in 1962…
Sarah: Firstly, Bernardo, I want to wish you ‘tanti auguri’ on reaching 90 years old. How do you feel?
Bernardo: I feel great, I’m looking forward to many more years and after a fantastic 90th birthday party here, I’m already looking ahead to the big 100. I've been blessed with good health - maybe it's the good genes my parents gave me or just a healthy mediterranean diet. And I’m living well. My feeling is I’m not afraid of death; I just don't want to be around when she comes looking for me!
Sarah: Do you still remember those early years in England, firstly working in Kent, then in Marylebone, and afterward deciding to start your own business and hitting on the idea of opening a restaurant?
Bernardo: Of course. For me, Kent was a Garden of Eden. Then I moved to London and worked in a restaurant in Marylebone called ‘Le Petit Monmartre’. My boss was a great guy called Mr Basset. I knew I wanted to open my own place but I didn’t want to compete with him so I started looking in other areas like the West End and the City of London.
I had £2,000 saved, after three years of working in the UK, when I decided to search for a place in north London. I fell in love with Hampstead in a moment - the atmosphere, the people, the Heath. And that was that!
Sarah: What do you think made the restaurant such a big hit in the early days?
Bernardo: I hadn’t seen a good French restaurant in the area, so I thought it would be a winning idea. But in the beginning, when people ordered spaghetti, I was quite upset because in the last place I’d worked, we had served up quite elaborate French offerings and I’d imagined that our diners were looking for equally sophisticated plates.
In the end, I settled for a ‘small’ menu. We offered a choice of two soups - onion and minestrone - and four main courses - chicken, beef, veal and fish. There was a dessert trolley too, and I remember the fruit salad and creme caramel being popular. And, of course, there was the obligatory cheeseboard!
I painted the whole restaurant green - because green signifies hope in my opinion. We had seven tables - four in the front and three in the back.
And Dominico - a friend I’d grown up with in a small village in Italy, who’d also moved to London - taught me how to improve things. He had a real eye for this business, and soon people were saying that they'd be licking their lips as soon as they saw their food coming towards them.
Sarah: And what is the famous story about your pate?
Bernado: We began making a chicken liver pate, and somehow ended up selling it to the prestigious Cumberland Hotel in central London. Actually, one of their employees would show up in a Rolls-Royce each month to collect it! A few months later, I received a letter from the Queen Mother - who had happened to sample it - saying how much she liked the pate. I took her letter to the bank to convince them to lend me more money to expand. They gave me the money but kept the letter! What a pity I didn't make a copy of it.
Sarah: What gave you the idea of expanding the business, to offer accommodation as well as food?
Bernardo: I didn't want to rely only on the restaurant for an income. Over time, a couple of locals with adjacent properties wanted to sell and so I made deals with them, took on mortgages and expanded. In 1977, I bought the ‘corner property’ (which is now our wine bar) for £33,000. I opened a ‘bed and breakfast’ with five rooms initially and over the years…well., business improved.
Sarah: How do you feel Hampstead is different now from the Hampstead you first encountered, back in the 1960’s?
Bernardo: The Hampstead I stumbled upon was very Bohemian, full of writers and painters and a diverse, intellectually-stimulating crowd. The change came slowly - I didn't notice it until it was upon me - as the area became more well-to-do. A lot of celebrities moved in and this made NW3 famous, leading to it developing a more ‘chic’ air.
Of course, I still love Hampstead and especially walking on the Heath. I started mushroom foraging in the 1980s. I read books to learn about the different varieties and every September/October I’d go off there picking - I met plenty of other Italians there too! The porcini mushrooms I would find were always spectacular. We put them on our menu - and the mushroom risotto soon became very popular.
Sarah: Tell me about some of your famous customers?
Bernardo: We hosted Peter O Toole, the actor, Martin Bell, the Independent MP, and even Frank Diaz, the lawyer of Pablo Escobar. Diaz stayed here for a while, and we became quite friendly. After he was arrested in Rio by the FBI, he called me from jail and I actually accepted the reserve charge cost! Unbelievably years later, he was released. He's still alive and a few years ago I visited him, when in Miami.
Sarah: Over the years, have you ever thought ‘Oh, I miss Italy so much, I want to return to the land of my birth?’ Or do you feel so at home in England now that Italy is merely a wonderful place to visit?
Bernardo: Never. Look, I've always had a dislike of people who come to England and complain endlessly about the country. This is where I chose to settle. For me, Italy gave me birth, but England gave me life.
I don't miss Italy that much because I stay busy. I scribble, I write, I have over 2.000 poems on Facebook. I’m not trying to impress anyone - it’s just an outlet for my creativity. I gained a Diploma in writing from the University of Sussex a few years back and some children's books about a cat called Luna have been published, all adapted from poems I wrote.
Sarah: And what about all of the plays you wrote over the years?
Bernardo: I wrote about twenty but only seven were put on the stage - at local theatres like the Pentameters, and Gatehouse. Secretly, I’d always wanted to be a writer…many years ago, I met a man called Sir William Richardson of the Daily Herald who used to stay at La Gaffe when he visited Lonson for work. He encouraged me to put my thoughts down on paper - and one of my most successful pieces, ‘ Autumn Music’ was born.
Sarah: How does it make you feel today, watching your son Lorenzo run La Gaffe?
Bernardo: I’m very proud of him. He’s doing a fantastic job and in many respects he’s a better owner than me - he has a wonderful personality, and unlike me he’s tall, slim and good-looking!
When he was young, he worked behind the bar making cappuccinos and that’s how he earned his pocket money. It was a good introduction for him to the world of hard work! I suppose I always hoped I could pass the business onto him…after all, at a certain age, it's not what you do, it’s what you leave behind. And La Gaffe is my legacy.
Sarah: Bernardo, thank you so much for talking to me today and - once again - happy 90th and I wish you many more to come…