'The meeting of two personalities is like the contact between two chemicals; if there is any reaction, both are transformed' wrote Gustav Jung. It is the special bonds, such as that between Isabella Potì and Floriano Pellegrinowhich the two chefs describe as 'simply meant to be', a coming together to walk towards the same goal, or rather, as Floriano calls it, towards 'the great purpose'. A purpose that is certainly not limited to their life as a couple, let alone the starred Bros' of Lecce. The great purpose encompasses
Determination, ambition, dedication, stubbornness and hard work: essential ingredients for finding one's own space and making one's voice heard, leaving a mark.
Floriano and Isabella always had clear ideas; they both knew exactly what they wanted to do and who they wanted to become. But in painting a picture that contains only the basic brushstrokes of their lives, there is one that they both include and which binds the two paintings together: their meeting. If Isabella remembers her internship with the Pellegrino brothers as the moment when she realised, then 18 and in her final year of high school, that this was her place (and to which she would in fact return after various experiences abroad), Floriano recounts that he recognised in Isabella a girl who had grown up like him in a 'hostile' environment and with the same great hunger for redemption. Two energies and personalities that immediately and naturally come together to walk towards self-assertion.
Pinched by the tarantula of going further and succeeding at any cost are Isabella Potì and Floriano Pellegrino. They have challenged themselves and internalised the discipline and attitude to sacrifice and work.
Because, as Floriano says, 'it is not the goal that shapes you, but the path to get there'. And there are difficulties and defeats along the way, as well as successes and victories. Achievements, however, make you look further ahead, the goals and challenges gradually become bigger and bigger, and with them the sacrifices require ever greater efforts, but this is what has made Bros' possible, real, unique and absolutely identity: a brand that is the child of the determination and self-sacrifice of these guys and their team.
Bros' is indeed the name of the well-known restaurant that won Salento its first Michelin star in 2018, but beyond the avant-garde cuisine, there is a small empire that Isabella and Floriano have been able to build: the contemporary trattoria in Scorrano, theASD Bros' Rugby Clubthe Sista concept revolving around Potì signature single-portion tarts, the events, and above all Bros'LandBros' official, the visionary format that every summer celebrates pure, unbridled avant-garde... and then Bros' official, the clothing line (shirts and sweatshirts) that puts its signature on a lifestyle. Because Bros', indeed, is not only cuisine, but a way of being.
Bros' is brotherhood, being part of a team with people who stand out from the others and recognise each other. One word: identity.
Also that of the territory, of that Salento where Floriano and Isabella's passion for cooking was born and grew and to which the two chefs are deeply attached. The Salento is the frame of the pictures we asked them to paint and from which we start to really understand what Bros' means and what lies behind a successful restaurant project.
And here then is the picture of Isabella Potì.
'The first brushstroke I put in my painting,' she says, 'is my being Italian on my father's side and Polish on my mother's side, because this contributed a lot to the spark of my love for cooking. I used to spend summers in Poland, in a nature reserve in a small village with wooden houses and forests. I used to fetch milk from the neighbour who
had cows, grandparents grew their own vegetables, we went to the forest to pick mushrooms...
All this made me passionate about the ingredient, where it comes from and then how it is processed, and thus about cooking. And then, having been born and raised in Italy, here is the passion for traditions, for putting good food on the table. And the desire to cook it. Everything stems from here, that's what made me choose to enrol in hotel management school. The second brushstroke of the picture, a milestone, is when I met Floriano. After finishing the internship, however, I realised that if I wanted to grow and learn I had to go abroad. I went to London and immediately had an experience in a starred restaurant, with chef Claude Bosi. It was the most formative experience of all and it was there that I realised that cooking
would be my world forever. I moved to Spain, where I studied with Paco Torreblanca and Martìn Berasategui, then to Copenhagen at the Geranium restaurant, to Menton at Mirazur... All these
experiences have been fundamental to my painting. And finally, another crucial brushstroke in my painting is the Bros' opening in 2018. It was a really hard and tiring time, but it toughened us up!".
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Read the full interview. Browse the PDF by clicking on the image below and turn to page 6.
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