AMAYA GARCIA

Updated Sunday, March 17, 2024-00:21

The Spanish of Tigrane Seydoux (39), CEO and founder of the Big Mamma group, has nothing to do with the one four years ago when he opened the first restaurant in Madrid.

"Everything has improved and grown," he jokes.

Bel Mondo, in the Salamanca neighborhood, began, even with the hangover of the pandemic on the horizon, the adventure in Spain;

Villa Capri, in Chueca, followed, and a few days ago Circolo Popolare opened, a spectacular space in the Azca area with more than 800 square meters and capacity for 250 diners.

In 2023, to give a little context, the group had a turnover of 180 million.

The Circolo Popolare room, with the bottles and the kitchen seen.

At 12:30 in the morning this Frenchman with a Nordic air, lanky and extremely polite, bursts into the upstairs with a loud greeting to the entire team, who at that time is eating before service.

"In Italy, the circus is the meeting place of people," he explains.

"It's where all kinds of people get together to celebrate," he says, gesturing with his hands.

And that is what they have tried to transfer to the new capital location.

"Our mission is to welcome a

very diverse mix of clients

."

The activity begins to be noticed in the room with the first customers.

The night before they held the opening party and everything had to be picked up to start the service.

"We don't want trendy restaurants that last three years and people forget about them.

Our thing is to create establishments with a story behind them

."

He still remembers the beginnings on Velázquez Street, when many called him crazy for opening an Italian restaurant of that size in the heart of the Salamanca neighborhood with an average ticket of 35 euros.

"Well, there it is.

And on average 1,000 customers pass by a day

."

It was clear from the beginning that the concept was going to work.

The Circolo Popolare team.

This Madrid-based businessman who loves pasta with pesto and chocolate says that

the success of a restaurant "is established by the team that works there

. Then comes the design and whatever you want."

With 8 stores in Paris, 5 in London and three in Madrid, Big Mamma has created its own identity.

In reality, he has created many but with one underlying idea: the wow effect!

when you step on any of the eaters of it.

"In London there is another Circolo Popolare that in design has nothing to do with the one in Madrid. The philosophy is the same, but each one maintains its personality."

That philosophy goes through the quality of the product they put on the plate.

The antipasti of Circolo Popolare.

The pasta is made every day in the kitchen

and they have worked on a new formula for the pizzas, which they serve to the subway, according to the customers' needs.

"The food is simple, there is nothing very sophisticated, but

it is very authentic

, they are dishes that we usually eat in Italy," he explains in Spanish.

Recipes that are already a bit iconic of the house, the carpaccio and the carbonara.

With a menu that also includes fish, skewers, salads and meats, they intend to activate an office area like Azca, where 60,000 people work.

"We bring most of the products from small Italian producers, from prosciuto to mortadella to burrata."

"We want to be a place for business meetings during the week and from Friday to Sunday a meeting point for families, groups of friends...

Our ambition is to create an institution

. "

With an average ticket of 20-30 euros, they go big, but that doesn't mean they don't look for "excellence" in everything they do.

And if there is something outstanding on the menu, it is the desserts


- that panacotta and its zebra choco -, a maxim of the group.

"We make them too," he explains proudly.

The carpaccio of Circolo Popolare.

The Circolo team is made up of 90 people - 2,500 in the entire group -, with the majority being Italian.

"There is a lot of internal mobility in the company; both in restaurants in Madrid and outside of Spain. In addition, we have agreements with hospitality schools in Italy."

Today, 37 nationalities coexist in Big Mamma.

"

We work a lot on the idea of ​​belonging, of creating a community with the people who are with us

," says Tigrane.

He calls all the workers he meets by name and likes to eat regularly at their restaurants.

"The day we think we do everything right we are dead."

The expansion of the group involves learning from mistakes and evolving.

"We are crazy about having

feedback

from our clients, it is what makes us improve."

Every day he receives about 2,000 reviews on his cell phone from customers who pass by his dining rooms and he tries to read them all.

"90% is positive."

The famous carbonara of the house.

We have left the decoration of the premises, which has been circulating on the networks for weeks, for last, although it is a fundamental part of the project.

"We have our own interior design and decoration team in the company."

In the open kitchen, the team works on the service.

The wall, covered with colored bottles that creates an incredible atmosphere - especially at night -, the light that comes in through the windows, the colors - a lot of fuchsia, on this occasion -, along with the lamps, the tableware - made for each of its restaurants - and the posters and paintings that decorate the walls identify that image so characteristic of the group, where what they seek is to show a little piece of Italy.

Even the bathrooms are always worth a visit in this Italian house, because even in them there is that detail in the design that makes the difference.

-What is the first thing you notice when you enter a restaurant?

-In the light of the premises and in the relationship between the team.

This is what makes a project work or not.