Small entrepreneurs in love with LangaFor the #GentediLanga column, we interviewed Matteo Marenco, a very young entrepreneur and Langarolo doc, who decided to open his own business,

Locanda Stardè

, in Neive in the Barbaresco “district.” We chose to introduce you to Matteo because he knows his area and its food and wine excellence very well. In fact, in addition to being the owner of Locanda Stardè, he is also a trifulau, or truffle hunter, and a sommelier.

His inn is strategically located to appreciate the good wine of the Piedmont region. It is the so-called land of four wines because it is home to four excellent wines of Piedmont: Barbaresco, Moscato, Barbera and Dolcetto. The bed&breakfast stands on the hillside of the town of Neive, which has been declared one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy” by the association of the same name.

Neive’s beauty and strategic location throughout history has made it an ideal place for landowners in the area to build their homes. For this reason, the village in the past was called the “pais di sgnuret” (in Piedmontese dialect, country of squires).Matteo tells us about his work as an entrepreneurMatthew’s project was born three years ago, in 2018, when he was only twenty-three years old. He decides to renovate an old rural farmhouse owned by his grandfather. He knows well the potential of his area and how attractive it can be to tourists who love the Langhe. Between bureaucracy and renovations, unfortunately three years will pass beforethe bed & breakfast will open to the public in June 2020.

Vespa tour: “What do you like about your work in the Langhe?”

Matthew
: “My unbridled passion for the Langhe was born with Locanda, even though I have been from Langhe all my life. Every time I do the Langhe hills I think, but how beautiful are they? Good thing they are so beautiful, so tourists come. I think it’s a magnificent place with great opportunities. I like the magic around the Langhe.”

From the first questions it is immediately clear that this is not a job, but a great passion. The discovery of the beauty he always had before his eyes.
TIV: “How come you decided to open a bed&breakfast, what do you like about welcoming tourists?”
MATTEO: “I really enjoy being in contact with people. Then, in the Inn, you see people from all over the world with a lot of different ideas … all the customers who come leave me something.” In just four months of opening, from June to October 2020, it was able to accommodate American, Swiss, Belgian, German, Spanish and French tourists.
TIV: What do you offer your clients?
MATTEO: “All the products in the Inn are local, including the beers! It seems trivial because everyone should do it, both buying zero-mile products and environmental sustainability.” In fact, Matteo explains that in his b&b he makes a point of offering produce grown in his garden. Also, a curiosity, all the soaps in the rooms are organic: “We are young and we have to save our planet,” Matthew wisely adds.

He also tells us about a nice initiative he is running to publicize local artists: “In all the rooms there are paintings by an artist from Asti who is an illustrator, and when I can I change them.” In addition to all this, he tells us that he “offers packages to go hot air ballooning, horseback riding, biking, and of course the Vespa ride. “Matteo is a hotelier, but also a passionate trifulau and sommelierThe Langhe is universally recognized for food and wine excellence such as truffles and wine.
TIV: “We heard that you are fond of truffle hunting.”
MATTEO: “I have little time to go between my parents’ business and my own,” he confesses to us with a veil of sadness. “I always went with my grandfather and my father, living among these products you are contaminated. It gives so much satisfaction when you find it.”
TIV: “Tell us some secrets or anecdotes about truffle hunting.”
MATTEO: “The trick is first and foremost patience. You can take a two-hour walk in the woods and find nothing, then you go back to where you started and start finding. So patience is the first secret. The second is to love your dog very much.”

TIV: “We heard that you are also a sommelier.”
MATTEO: “Our future plan is to open a wine shop. Offer super typical Piedmontese chopping boards by making pairings of wine, cheese, cold cuts and cold dishes.”
He tells me that he started studying two years ago, hand in hand with the birth of the Inn project.
TIV: “What pairing would you recommend between wine and cheese?”
MATTEO: “Difficult, I would go on a slightly fatty cheese like a robiola d’Alba with a wine that would take away the fatty flavor like a nice Barbera d’Alba. It sounds like an obvious pairing however it is not.” Also talking about this strange period of confinement and pandemic Matteo suggests that this can be “a way to experience the Langhe from a distance. By making pairings with our products rediscovering the traditions of the past. “What does it mean to work in the Langhe during the pandemicTIV: “How are you experiencing this period as an entrepreneur?”
MATTEO: “Bad because it’s ruining all my plans. I had a lot of ideas and plans….”
In his voice, too, there is a feeling of suspended life. Matteo, however, is not giving up and tells us that “I have picked up the sommelier books again. I am studying the typical products of the Langhe and upper Piedmont that you would never know unless you study them.”

In fact, he is coping with life and work in a very positive way, using this period to be able to offer his clients more and more comprehensive service in the future.
Speaking of this moment, he calls it “strange but historic. So many businesses have closed, will never open or will open with difficulty. However, maybe because I am 26 years old, I have the future all ahead of me, and I think we have to move forward. We will be ready for this summer even though everything is an unknown.”

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