STRONG LOCAL REPUTATION, GROWING ONLINE VISIBILITY
Chiara Cappellano (Il Limone, Breda, The Netherlands) doesn't just talk about the future of Italian restaurants outside of Italy. She physically embodies that future. Born into a family of restaurateurs, a digital native, she founded and runs a successful concept that includes under the same roof an espresso bar, a delicatessen with a six-meter counter serving dishes, meats, cheeses, and an Osteria with 45 seats.
Loyal local customers and tens of thousands of online followers
Il Limone (https://illimone.nl/) is part of that constellation of restaurants created by Fabio Cappellano, Chiara's father, including Il Tartufo - Delicatessen, Traiteur & Osteria and LA VITA E BELLA Peppe Cappellano (Rotterdam), both part of the Qualitalia BV network, soon to expand outside The Netherlands. Chiara’s business model is based on quality online visibility and authentic offline experience at Il Limone. “They reinforce each other in everything I do, from the video of a recipe to a table full of food at the restaurant: atmosphere, authenticity, and sharing stories”, she says.
“I am very active as a content creator on Tik Tok and Instagram (@chiaracappellano). It’s part of my work as restaurateur. I share short contents about running Il Limone, Italian recipes, lifestyle & beauty”, Chiara adds.
Chiara has 61,600 followers on Tik Tok and 30,000 on Instagram but she also manages Il Tartufo/Il limone Tik Tok account, with 80,000 followers. “It started with personal videos about trips to Italy and grew bigger after a video about panino (sandwich) from my father's deli: 5 million views! We went from 100 to 950 panini a day”.
Chiara still spends a lot of time at Il Limone front of the house. “I like doing it, even though I have the whole business to manage. Il Limone is my childhood dream frown into a place where everything comes together: family, food, culture, and entrepreneurship. It is a cultural statement, and it harks back to the Italian tradition of family businesses, which we are renewing day by day”. “My aim is to expand Il Limone to several cities, but for now, I’m happy to gain more experience first.”, says Chiara.
“I am proud to be part of it: it’s a special and ambitious project that is shaping the future of Italian gastronomy worldwide! It’s so powerful because combines innovation and tradition: a global digital platform that makes Italian restaurants outside of Italy visible and personal in a new way"