Volcan’s taste of Italy

By David Dell

Volcan is not short of eating places – we have more than thirty five. What we are short of is good quality restaurants. So it is with pleasure that I can report that recently with the opening of IL FORNO, (the oven in Italian) by 43-year-old Italian/ American Joseph Mattina, and his Panamanian wife Aliss, the warm, hospitable and authentic taste of Italy came to Volcan.

The restaurant building was originally a modest wooden home. With the removal of several interior walls and construction of a gas-fired brick oven, the building made the transition from old home to up-scale restaurant.

“This old house”— now an upscale restaurant.

The heart and soul of any restaurant is the chef, and Joseph Mattina clearly has both heart and soul in Il Forno. He was born in New York to Italian (restaurant owning) parents and at the age of 14 returned with his folks to their birthplaces of Salerno and Palermo. This is where Joseph absorbed the true nature of, and learned the subtleties of what makes Italian cooking so vibrant and spicy.

On a visit to Panama Joseph met and fell in love with Aliss Hartmann. Aliss is one of the youngest members of the Hartmann family – one of the best-known founding families of the province of Chiriquí. Together they set out to start up what they aim to make Volcan's most popular restaurant.

The food is upscale but fortunately the prices are not. Pasta primavera is just $5.00, Lasagna $6. 00 and you can have an antipasto starter for just $4.00. A large pizza will set you back $11.00, but this is more than enough for two people.

At the start of each meal you are given a complimentary basket of homemade bread and a dip of roasted garlic cloves in olive oil. Besides baking their own bread the Mattinas also make their own Ricotta cheese.

Warm and hospitable.

When my wife and I lived in Nicaragua there was an Italian restaurant that served an Italian pie called a "stromboli," named after Italy's ever-active Volcano. I asked Joseph if he could make a similar dish. It wasn't easy – for one thing a “stromboli” should takes about eight to ten minutes to cook and Joseph's oven can cook a pizza in three minutes. Patiently, Joseph experimented and my wife, and I dutifully became the tasters. The first tries were good, but something was lacking. Finally, we decided to put the chopped tomatoes into the mix uncooked. This he did and Presto! A gastronomic success.

The Chiriqui highlands are lush and green, thanks to the sometimes overabundance of the liquid sunshine. On those dark dreary, rain filled nights there is a place that welcomes you with the warm glow of soft lights and candles; where the food and ambience will soothe your soul-and your wallet will hardly feel a thing.