The story of Maurizio De Biasi: from Puglia to Killorglin, bringing real Italy to County Kerry
Table of Contents
- From Puglia to Bologna, All the Way to Ireland
- Yvonne, the Ring of Kerry, and a Restaurant of Their Own
- The Carbonara with Cream and the Fight for Authenticity
- A Passion Passed Down Through Generations
- The Challenges: Language and Prejudice
- The Greatest Satisfaction: Italians Who Come Back the Next Day
- Part of a Wider Network: Real Italian Restaurant
From Puglia to Bologna, All the Way to Ireland
Maurizio De Biasi was born in the province of Taranto, in the heart of Puglia.
At eighteen he moved to Bologna, where he lived for twenty-seven years, mastering Emilian cuisine in its most authentic form while never forgetting his southern roots.
He built a gastronomic bridge between northern and southern Italy, blending the richness of Bolognese ragù with the sunny spirit of Puglia.
The Pandemic That Changed Everything
When Covid struck, Maurizio found himself unable to work.
When restrictions eased, Ireland was one of the few European countries accessible with a simple test.
He was called to work at an Italian restaurant by the sea in Killorglin for a summer season.
What was meant to be temporary became permanent.
Yvonne, the Ring of Kerry, and a Restaurant of Their Own
At that restaurant, Maurizio met Yvonne, a woman raised in a family of hotel owners with hospitality in her blood.
When the restaurant was handed over to the Irish government to house Ukrainian refugees, they found themselves at a crossroads — but together.
The Birth of My Café Risto e Pizza
It was Yvonne who stopped Maurizio from leaving: "You brought real cooking here. We have to do something with this."
So was born My Café Risto e Pizza — a small restaurant on the square in Killorglin, with a weekly-rotating menu, 100% Italian products, and a precise mission: to introduce the Irish to authentic Italian cuisine.
The Carbonara with Cream and the Fight for Authenticity
In Ireland, carbonara was typically made with cream, mushrooms, chicken and bacon.
Bolognese was simply a tomato-basil sauce.
Maurizio noticed that Irish visitors returning from holidays in Italy would taste his carbonara — made with egg, guanciale and pecorino, no cream — and immediately understand the difference.
Not arrogance: culinary education.
A Weekly Menu, Only Italian Products
Every week the menu offers something authentic: handmade tortellini, ricotta and spinach ravioli, orecchiette with turnip greens imported directly from Bari, and his own creation — the girasole with 'nduja and mozzarella.
Everything without exception arrives from Italy: tomatoes, mozzarella, cured meats, pasta, coffee.
A Pizza That Speaks for Itself
The dough rests for two days with sourdough starter.
The result is a light, digestible pizza.
Customers look at it wide-eyed, then the plate comes back empty.
A Passion Passed Down Through Generations
Maurizio's love for cooking began with his grandmother, who at six or seven years old would stand him on a chair and show him how to make a soffritto.
Then came his father, who woke at five on Sunday mornings to start a Bolognese that would cook for four hours.
"The passion doesn't diminish, it grows," says Maurizio. "You never stop learning."
The Challenges: Language and Prejudice
Maurizio had studied German and French, not English.
He learned by attending evening school and speaking with Yvonne every day.
After five years in Ireland, he communicates well in English, with that irresistible Italian-English mix that his customers love.
The cultural challenge — helping the Irish understand what real Italian food is — is a battle won one plate at a time.
The Greatest Satisfaction: Italians Who Come Back the Next Day
The Ring of Kerry brings thousands of Italian tourists each year.
They enter curious but wary — until Maurizio comes out of the kitchen and says "buongiorno."
Their first request: "Can you make us a good coffee?"
Italian coffee, Italian machine, Italian barista.
The next day they return with a thermos.
The greatest review?
A Milanese family who said: "You know, I ate better pasta here than in Milan."
Part of a Wider Network: Real Italian Restaurant
My Café Risto e Pizza is part of the Real Italian Restaurant network, an initiative building an international community of authentic Italian restaurants that support each other and defend Italian cuisine from what Maurizio bluntly calls "fake cooking."
This year the project gained special significance: Italian cuisine was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list.
What Maurizio does every day in Killorglin is not just cooking — it's preserving a cultural heritage.
If you ever travel the Ring of Kerry, find the square in Killorglin. Look for the flag with gnocchi and taralli. Step inside. Order the carbonara. Welcome to real Italy.
source https://www.realitalianrestaurants.com/blog/authentic-italian-cuisine-in-the-heart-of-ireland
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