Portofino, many phone calls to the owner of the Bistro after his appeal for the waiter’s job: “But no one accepts, they want a room. But here it is unthinkable”

Dozens of phone calls but no one seems to want that job as a waiter in one of the chicest clubs in Portofino. We spoke again with Mauro Evangelista after the interview – which went viral – in which he complained about the difficulty of finding staff for his Portofino Bistrot. Lots of calls, lots of interest but we’re back to the top, Evangelista tells Republic.

And the reason probably lies in logistics even before having to sacrifice Saturday evenings. Portofino can only be reached by car – by motorbike if you live in Santa Margherita – but a month’s parking costs the same as a studio apartment on the outskirts of Milan. Finding a room for the season is even worse, and the bus is not suitable for those who finish working late at night. As for San Margherita and its surroundings, it seems that there is no one interested in the place.

“I have received more than thirty phone calls in the last few days – says Evangelista – I was surprised because they came from all over Italy, from Sicily, from Calabria, from Basilicata, from Puglia, from Trentino, from Lombardy, from Veneto, without distinction between north and south. The closest were two girls from Ventimiglia, who will come for an interview if they don’t change their minds.”

And the others?

“The others knew the sector, they already had experience, many are at the beginning, but they immediately asked me if accommodation was included in the salary, and for us it is not possible, only large groups do it. Here you can find a place to sleep in the area, but then in the end you make a lot of sacrifices and you have little left in your pocket. Last week a lady of about fifty years of age passed by, together with her son, to personally hand me her CV, something that hadn’t happened for 7 years. I read it the next day, she made a good impression on me, and this lady lives in the area, I called her. With a certain surprise, even though I no longer surprise her at all, she told me that she wanted to calmly evaluate the other proposals that came to her, to choose the one where she would work less and earn better, but very calmly. I never heard from her again.”

CHow come little interest from those who live nearby?

“You can see that since they built the motorway, there is little spirit of sacrifice here, let’s remember that we live in a paradise that is less than two hours away from a city like Milan”.

So we are left where we started. Are you sure it’s not a salary issue?

“I repeat, it is 1600 euros per month for 40 hours as a basis, thirteenth salary as severance pay, to which tips are added and we also give bonuses to the most deserving, it depends on the will and spirit of sacrifice. The truth is that 90% of the people in our sector are no longer Italian. Here we have to work during the holidays, on Saturday evenings. Of course, if a chef earned 10 thousand euros and a waiter 9 thousand, this wouldn’t happen, but it’s mathematically impossible. Today all the kids want to graduate, and no one wants to do these jobs anymore, which are certainly tiring, but I repeat, equally dignified, being in contact with the public is a great satisfaction”.

But there are also those who think that these kids are being exploited. Where is the truth?

“I try to identify with their situation, even though I am of a different age and mentality. I believe it is a general problem of this generation, these young people are probably going through an identity crisis, they feel they are in a precarious world, where there are no goals and ideals. For this reason, perhaps they are not inclined to make sacrifices, they don’t want to work on Saturday evening and prefer to go and eat pizza with friends; but will someone even have to make this pizza and serve it? We have ended up in a complex world, fuller of rights and perhaps fewer duties. But we have to find a solution, I’m thinking about it and in the meantime I’m confident, I’m a fighter and I won’t give up.”