Inside Michael Schumacher’s favorite restaurant

The world’s finest pasta maker is consuming her lunch.

After a busy morning service, Rossella Giannini enjoys the silence. The silver-haired matriarch watches carefully as her husband, Maurizio, divides the remaining contents of a big pan of ragu between himself, their son, Alberto, and daughter-in-law, Francesca, the household of 4 exchanging few phrases whereas waiters diligently put together for the night to return.

It is never this quiet at Ristorante Montana. Situated a stone’s throw from Maranello, the house of Ferrari, Rossella has fought an uphill battle to compete with the five-star hospitality on provide down the highway, the place males in fits pay a premium for a slice of Italian luxurious.

Yet the celebs, it appears, gravitate right here. It was Erling Haaland who, sat inside these 4 wood-panelled partitions, wrote ‘the best pasta I’ve ever eaten’ on a serviette addressed to Rossella.

‘Mino Raiola’s father was a buddy,’ explains Maurizio, the footballing super-agent having really helpful this hidden gem to the free-scoring Manchester City star earlier than his loss of life in 2022.

Haaland is one in all numerous footballing faces to make the trek to Ristorante Montana. Roberto de Zerbi, Gianluca Scamacca and even Cristiano Ronaldo have paid Rossella a go to – the famously diet-crazy Portuguese unable to withstand Rossella’s hearty cooking throughout a go to with former Juventus president Andre Agnelli some years in the past.

‘He ate fried dumplings with cured meats and pasta – lasagna, tortellini and gramigna – plus tiramisu for dessert,’ Rossella remembers.

She has admirers in Hollywood too, with actress Penelope Cruz and director Michael Mann sampling her well-known pasta.

But it’s the drivers from La Scuderia who’ve made this place their house. Rene Arnoux and Stephan Johansson have been first to stroll by her doorways in 1986 whereas Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the 2 males competing for the Prancing Horse this 12 months, are common guests. Sebastian Vettel nonetheless pops in regardless of leaving the staff in 2020 whereas a framed picture of a grinning Fernando Alonso hugging the Italian chef throughout his formative racing years is proudly displayed alongside pictures of his fellow Ferrari alumni.

There is one image that conjures up probably the most awe amongst this myriad memorabilia, although. Stretched throughout the width of the wall, Rossella squeezes Michael Schumacher as he tucks into one in all her staple dishes – tagliatelle with pork ragu sauce.

‘To my mama Rossella,’ reads the German’s message, delicately-penned in Italian on the canvas. ‘Thank you for every thing.’

Rossella seems on with a smile, her gentle eyes aglow with admiration for the person who made it his mission to go to at any time when in Maranello.

‘Breakfast, lunch and dinner he would come right here,’ she tells Mail Sport as she clears the desk.

‘He was every thing,’

Rossella remembers her first assembly with Schumacher effectively. Acquainting himself with the native space after signing for Ferrari, the German arrived on her doorstep late at night time.

‘It was February 14, 1996 at 11.30 pm,’ she remembers. ‘He landed in Parma with his private plane and came to us with the press officer at the time, Mr. Claudio Berro. He had dinner on Valentine’s Day evening. It was love at first sight!’

Five world championships and plenty of tagliatele dishes later, Schumacher has left an indelible mark on Maranello, in addition to Rossella’s coronary heart.

‘He known as me his Italian mama and he was like one other son to me,’ she says with a smile, cherishing these unforgettable moments.

It’s been over ten years since Schumacher final visited Ristorante Montana, the German the sufferer of a stunning snowboarding accident on the French Alps in December 2013. His wellbeing has largely been stored from his adoring followers and he has not been seen in public since.

Francesca, standing beneath a framed Schumacher racing swimsuit close by, utters: ‘It’s a tragedy.’

But the Schumacher clan have not forgotten in regards to the girl who cared so deeply for Michael.

While visits are few and much between since his son, Mick, left Ferrari’s younger driver programme, a trio of racing helmets belonging to the pair are perched on a shelf above the money register.

‘Mick and his mom visited final 12 months,’ Francesca says, earlier than exhibiting a photograph of the younger driver giving Rossella a heat hug. The connection nonetheless runs deep between the households in spite of everything of those years.

The wheels carry on turning at Ristorante Montana on this gray February afternoon, the place one other profitable night time’s buying and selling quick approaches.

Will a well-known face pay a shock go to this night? Leclerc is on the town to advertise Ferrari’s new partnership with Peroni, whereas a fever-pitch pleasure is within the air over Lewis Hamilton ‘s upcoming arrival – the Briton having signed a profitable deal to affix the Scuderia from 2025.

The seven-time world champion has by no means frequented this Ferrari sanctuary however his father, Anthony, dropped by a few years in the past, lengthy earlier than Hamilton begun talks with the Italians over a shock change from Mercedes.

The follower of a strict vegan weight-reduction plan, will Rossella’s well-known tagliatelli be off the menu for Hamilton?

‘I’m the boss right here!’ Rossella quips, excited on the prospect of cooking for the person desperately chasing a record-breaking eighth world title – a tally which is able to see him lastly eclipse her darling Schumacher. ‘He could have what I cook dinner for him!’

If he is something like his fellow stars, Hamilton will not be capable to escape the magic of this refuge.

And the key ingredient to Ristorante Montana’s success? .

‘It appears like house,’ says Rossella.