Catering entrepreneurs Belinda and Damiano D'Alba are not only familiar faces in The Hague and its surroundings. Besides their restaurants such as La Galleria and Steam, they have been importing Italian wines with their company Solo Vino for 25 years. In 2018, they started African Wines, a real 'love project'. - IMAGE NELLIE MYKONIOU
5 questions to: Hospitality entrepreneurs Belinda and Damiano D'Alba
1. YOU SHINE! HOW DID YOUR LOVE BEGIN?
Belinda: 'In 1987, I started at the Hogere Hotelschool and was looking for a job to pay for my studies. Through a school friend, I ended up at La Galleria in Scheveningen. My application was to the serious Italian director of the company. After a while, I found out he was not as old and serious as I thought and Damiano and I became a couple. I quit school, stayed in the company and never left.'
2. HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE WINE BUSINESS?
Damiano: 'Over the years, together with associates, we expanded a lot and got more restaurants. We wanted to be distinctive and started buying our own products, including wine. We opened Solo Vino, the first Italian wine bar in the Netherlands. We increasingly went looking for special producers ourselves, which were not yet represented in the Netherlands. As a restaurateur, you naturally know very well what the guest's tastes are, and wine has always been a great passion of mine. A few years ago, the Solo Vino webshop was added.
Curious about the rest of the interview and other wine news? Read more in the latest Winelife Magazine 73. You can order this one here!
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