Pizzeria Pescara in Olpe: “Italian food is fantasy”

Giuseppe Foresi (68) was born in Casoli in Abruzzo. A small community of about 5000 inhabitants, not far from the Adriatic coast and in the same latitude as Rome. He came to Germany in 1977. Directly to Olpe, he died in 1985 Pescara On the foot Kimiker Burgess Opened. Today it is the oldest Italian restaurant in the district.

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“When I came to Olpe, I got a job as a waiter at Etna Westphalian Street. Lillo and Antonio worked there too,” says Giuseppe of the past. After that in Olpe Italian “Restaurant and Pizzeria” get a leg. In 1952, Germany’s first pizzeria opened in Würzburg, but in the 1970s and 1980s it expanded to rural areas in Sauerland. Many citizens of Olpe can still remember Etna very well. It was the first Italian restaurant in Olpe and closed in 1992. Antonio, who was a partner in Pescara for one year in 1985, opened his own restaurant in 1986 on Pannenklopperstrasse.

And Lilo, the real Sicilian, a year later again in Frankfurter Strasse. He retired in 2008. But he was completely out of place. Today you can find him in Pescara where he helps in the kitchen. “Italian food is fantasy. You always have to reinvent them,” the Palermo chef admires.

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A very special pizza

Always reinventing yourself – that’s what Giuseppe Foresi has done over and over again. For example, there is a dish on his menu that cannot be found anywhere else: Pizza Altenkleusheim. With tomato, mozzarella, salami, ham, tuna and pineapple. It was created 30 years ago, so to speak, when Pescara was a regular hangout for many footballers. “The people of Altenklüsheim always said, ‘Please make us this pizza.’ And I created them,” says Giuseppe, and explains another reason for the name: at that time he himself lived in Altenclüsheim. And that is where his eldest son, Luigi, was born.

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On September 1, 2022, Giuseppe is now in possession of Pescara. The little boy Piero (22) and retired. In the restaurant, however, it can still be seen every day. “I just love it. Serving and talking to the guests is a matter of the heart. Pescara is part of me and my family.”

Pescara is also a little family for Olper. he said Many regular audience. Many guests are here every week. Many of them often. And for years or decades. There is a group of friends who meet regularly “at their Italian restaurant around the corner”. There are always couples who come on Sundays at eight o’clock. Or the gentleman who enjoys pizza or steak every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday lunchtime. A quart of wine from Abruzzo, Giuseppe’s homeland. Just like the beer comes from here, from Giuseppe’s second home.

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Speaking of steak. with Piero on Schnellenberg Castle Learned, Pescara is no longer a “pizzeria and a small restaurant”, but rather a “restaurant and a small pizzeria”. The young entrepreneur wants to make his father’s legacy more modern and diverse. They serve pasta, fish and meat dishes in all their Italian varieties. Lately there has been a daily or weekly menu change with special dishes like Spaghetti Allo Scoglio or Sicilian orecchiette with swordfish and aubergine. “Without taking the tried and tested off the menu,” Piero emphasized. Like the tortellini Mama Rosa “just always works”. Or pizza scampi, small shellfish covered in a special cream. Lilo created the recipe. It was Palermo who introduced Calzone with cheese sauce or bologna in Olpe.

Family business atmosphere

Off the menu – what makes Pescara so popular is its southern atmosphere. “The atmosphere of the family business is nice and relaxed. Friendly, open, polite. We live in Pescara, Italy,” Giuseppe said of his father Luigi. When he retired, he came to Germany for eight months every year to escape the hot Italian summers – until his death at 15. “At five in the morning he was already in the kitchen. He cleaned the salad and made the tomato sauce.” And Giuseppe also spoke of Dino, the veteran in the kitchen, standing at the Pescara stove for 32 years. if so Giuseppe Foresi Return to Italy now of retirement age? “No, I have everything I want and love here. Pescara, my four children and six grandchildren. I fell in love with Olpe.”

Pizzeria Pescara, Maria-Teresia-Strasse 2, 57462 Olpe; Tel: 02761 3256 Closed on Wednesdays.

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