Awards
Three marks, two of them from Rome
On 26 June 1998 a 28-year-old Berliner stood in Rome and accepted a certificate for Italian cooking. Almost thirty years later a second one hangs beside it – and together they explain why some things take longer here than they might elsewhere.
Some awards can be bought. Others require someone to come and look. Both of ours are the second kind.
The question of the nineties
By the nineties, "Italian food" had become a claim across much of Europe. Red-and-white checked tablecloths, bolognese from a bucket, parmesan from a shaker. Italy found itself facing a cuisine that carried its name and had little to do with it.
The answer was the Insegna del Ristorante Italiano – a mark for restaurants abroad that clearly meant it. Awarded by a commission set up for the purpose, under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Agricultural Resources and the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and supported by the Istituto del Commercio Estero, Unioncamere and the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, among others.
Rome, 26 June 1998
Francucci was granted the Insegna, and it was presented in Rome on 26 June 1998. Franco Francucci was 28 at the time – born in Berlin, raised between two kitchens. In the kitchen stood Sabatino Sartoni from Rimini.
On the application form, in Franco's handwriting, is what the restaurant stood for then: Abruzzese specialities, home cooking with innovative accents, a wine list of Italian and European growers, Italian service. And "ambiente giovanile" – a young room. The restaurant on Kurfürstendamm was two years old at that point.
What came of it
The Abruzzo has stayed. The Penne all'Abruzzese are still on the menu unchanged, Papà Franco's original from the 1982 World Cup. The Pizza Franco dal 1962 carries the founding year in its name. Our guests would miss both.
What has changed is the effort. We bake the bread ourselves every morning, as a natural loaf without additives. The pasta is made in our own workshop from imported durum wheat semolina. The Chianina beef for the Bistecca Fiorentina we select by hand in the Apennines and import ourselves – a breed raised in the open for some two thousand years. The desserts are made by the family.
The second certificate
Beside the Insegna hangs the Marchio Q – Ospitalità Italiana, Ristoranti Italiani nel Mondo, awarded by Unioncamere and the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany, with the participation of several Italian ministries.
What gets assessed is nothing abstract: the kitchen, the menu, the wine list, the extra virgin olive oil, the share of DOP and IGP products, the experience of the people at the stove. Someone comes to the restaurant, looks at all of it and writes it down. The mark is valid for two years, and then someone comes again.
And a third mark
There is also a certification that applies not to the house but to the meat: we are listed by the Consorzio 5R as a Casa della Chianina. As of August 2026 we are the only restaurant in Germany in the consortium's register. What that means is on the Chianina page.
The same question, thirty years apart
In 1998 and today, essentially the same thing is being tested, and it is the only question that interests us: would this pass in Italy?
Louis Francucci is now the next generation in the house. The certificates do not hang on the wall as trophies. They are closer to an obligation, and it starts at six in the morning when the oven heats up for the bread.
Good to know
If you would like the Bistecca Fiorentina from Chianina IGP, do mention it when you reserve – that way we can prepare the right cut for your table.