The historic Milanese restaurant takes the reins at the waterside restaurant of the five-star resort on Marinella beach
The Abi d’Oru has entrusted its waterfront restaurant to the team behind Trattoria del Pescatore, a cornerstone of seafood cuisine in Milan for half a century. The restaurant is set to open at the Porto Rotondo resort on 15 May. At a time when the destination is attracting international names, the Abi d’Oru has chosen a different path, built around a family rather than a brand, where the increasingly rare figure of the host remains central and the cooking is honest and uncomplicated.
Founded in 1976 by Agnese and Giuliano Ardu, originally from Morgongiori (OR), the trattoria was among the first to bring Sardinian-inspired cuisine to the Lombard capital. Today, together with sons Nicolas and Cristian and Chef Andrea Bortolotti, part of the culinary family for over 16 years, they remain true to a philosophy of simplicity and respect for outstanding ingredients, bringing to Sardinia the same dishes and spirit of hospitality: at once essential and genuine.
“We made a choice to go against the current by selecting the Trattoria del Pescatore,” says Diana Zuncheddu, Managing Director of Abi d’Oru. “With a family that has always offered honest cuisine, where the catch is the protagonist and the guest is at the heart of the experience. A vision in harmony with both our own identity and the other restaurants within the resort Mediterraneo and Tzia Maria.”
At the helm of the trattoria, Giuliano Ardu is a true patron: present in the dining room, overseeing every service and maintaining a direct relationship with each guest. It is this same style of welcome that the Ardu family intends to bring with them to Sardinia.
“In recent years we’ve been offered several collaborations,” explain Agnese and Giuliano Ardu, “but we’ve always preferred to remain true to our identity. The Abi d’Oru is Sardinia, our land. Here we’ve found hospitality that puts people first, and the same attention to ingredients that underpins our dishes. Managing the restaurant on the beach, in the very year of our 50th anniversary, was a natural choice: a new adventure that feels like coming home, where we feel perfectly at ease.”
Also open to external guests, offering a lighter range at lunch and a full menu at dinner, the restaurant presents the dishes that have made the trattoria famous in Milan, including Catalan-style lobster, Paccheri del Pescatore with swordfish, peppers, squid and bottarga, and Morgongiori lorighittas with lobster, a maritime reinterpretation of the traditional pasta from the Ardu family’s home town.
Daily specials will feature alongside fresh local catch, also available from the grill in the evening.
New for this season is the Lobster Hour, an appointment dedicated to shellfish and raw seafood, essential components of the aperitif, accompanied by Sardinian bubbles and cocktails crafted using island spirits.
A takeaway service is also available for those who prefer to savour the creations of the Pescatore from the privacy of their own villa or yacht.
For information or reservations: www.hotelabidoru.it/en/trattoria-del-pescatore/
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MEDIA NOTES
Abi d’Oru
The story of the Abi d’Oru is one of vision and hard work: the first hotel ever built in Porto Rotondo and the Costa Smeralda, it has been offering five-star relaxation and warmth since 1963, with the distinctive charm of Sardinian hospitality. Three generations of guests have come to love its unmistakable qualities: attentive staff, a golden beach, the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Marinella, and the gentle sea breeze that moves through the rooms each morning. The hotel was created at the behest of Count Vittorio Cini, owner of Ciga Hotels and a patron of the arts in Italy. The Count entrusted the design of the Abi D’Oru to Simon Mossa, a renowned Sardinian architect, political scientist and writer who was also part of the first architectural committee established by H.H. the Aga Khan to define the architectural style of the Costa Smeralda. Mossa designed a hotel with a repeated hexagonal pattern reminiscent of honeycomb: a project so original that it was published in the leading architectural magazines of the era. The 131 rooms of the Abi d’Oru, including 17 junior suites, 26 suites and 2 signature suites, nearly all enjoy sea views. The interiors harmoniously blend materials and traditional local styles with an unmistakably Sardinian and Mediterranean elegance. Only the gardens, swimming pool and a natural pond separate the rooms of the Abi d’Oru from Marinella beach, one of the most beautiful in Sardinia. The offer is completed by the restaurants Mediterraneo, Tzia Maria and Trattoria del Pescatore, the Abi Spa – with four treatment rooms for massage and facial and body therapies, and the Private Spa, a reserved area with sauna, Turkish bath, Jacuzzi, loungers and couples’ treatments. For sports lovers, the hotel offers two tennis courts, a five-a-side football pitch, a gym and a range of water sports.
www.hotelabidoru.it/en/
Trattoria del Pescatore
The Trattoria del Pescatore first opened its doors in Milan in 1976. Giuliano Ardu, together with his wife Agnese Atzeni and their family, had the foresight to transform a modest trattoria into one of the city’s first destinations for seafood cuisine. Arriving from Sardinia, the founders brought with them the authentic flavours of their land: ingredients rare in Milan at the time, such as mullet bottarga and their iconic “filone” bread, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It was here that certain timeless traditions were born, still offered to guests at the end of their meal today: Sardinian pecorino cheese served directly from the wheel and ice-cold mirto liqueur. The trattoria is inextricably linked to its most celebrated dish: Catalan-style lobster. Rooted in the traditional recipe from Alghero – prepared with lobster, oil and lemon – Giuliano Ardu’s version conquered the Milanese palate with the addition of tomatoes and red onion. So successful was his recipe that it became a gastronomic classic, even influencing the variants prepared in Sardinia itself today.
www.trattoriadelpescatore.it/en/