Fabio Berdicchia ensures that each dish he serves carries the taste of his hometown in Lizzano, Puglia, the memories of his childhood and the heart of his family. Together with his wife, Yesenia, and their daughter Alice, they opened the restaurant as the realization of a shared dream — and Mamma Lucia couldn’t be more proud.
“It’s a dream I had since I was a kid,” Fabio said. “This food tells the story of my mother’s kitchen.”
Mamma Lucy Italian is a restaurant in Scottsdale that prides itself on serving authentic cuisine, and making all of the food in-house with fresh ingredients. The three signature dishes are the sua maesta amatriciana (made with a traditional tomato-based sauce), la regina carbonara and la capitale cacio e pepe. One of their most popular specialties, however, is the five-star ragu, featuring five different meats slow braised for six hours.
Fabio said that they use guanciale instead of bacon in the carbonara and amatriciana, eggs rather than cream to make the carbonara sauce, and pecorino romano cheese imported from Rome to maintain the dishes’ authenticity. Guests can sample the three pasta dishes together by ordering the “signature trio” tower.
Mamma Lucy Italian serves a variety of cocktails and mocktails.
Mamma Lucy Italian/Submitted
The restaurant also serves fresh bread and authentic Italian desserts, spirits, cocktails and mocktails, coffee and tea.
Creating an authentic Italian experience for the customers is not just about the food. The Berdicchias said the design and aesthetics of the restaurant’s interior are supposed to make guests feel like they’re dining in Italy — from the murals of Rome against the sunshine yellow walls to the strings of lights, flowers and greenery.
“From the moment a customer walks through the door, you’re in charge of their experience,” Alice said. “Making sure everything is perfect for them takes time, but we’re 100% committed to it.”
“We wanted it to feel like being under the sun, but with air conditioning,” Fabio said with a laugh.
Mamma Lucy is named after Fabio’s mother, Lucia, to whom he attributes much of his inspiration and knowledge. He said that her recipes are etched into his memory, and he strives to do the dishes justice. Lucia’s biography is printed on the menus for customers to read.
Before opening the restaurant two years ago, the Berdicchia family was in the catering business. They said that while running a restaurant bears some resemblance to catering, it comes with its own unique challenges.
“Multitasking is in our blood, but we can’t do everything by ourselves,” Fabio said. “You need to assemble a team of the right people, and we have a very good team.”
Each member of the Berdicchia family plays a different role in the flow of the restaurant. Beyond being the owner, Fabio is also the executive chef. Yesenia is in charge of the pastries or dolce and Alice is the general manager. They attribute much of their success to working together as a team.
Alice said that the experience of opening a restaurant has strengthened her familial bonds.
“We learned by teaching ourselves because it doesn’t come with a manual,” she said. “Building it together and facing the challenges as a family brought us closer together.”
For the Berdicchias, family is the most important aspect of their lives and business. They said the combination of seeing the customers happy and their family happy is their source of fulfillment.
“When I come out to see the people, and the tiramisu dish is empty, that’s how I know I’m doing well,” Yesenia said. “Seeing my family happy as well makes me happy.”
“It’s not easy to open a restaurant, but my family has inspired and supported me so much,” Fabio said. “(Family) is part of our culture — especially from the southern part of Italy, where my parents were from. We work together, stay together and we don’t go against each other.
“Family is everything.”
Mamma Lucy Italian
WHERE: 6245 E. Bell Road, Scottsdale
WHEN: 4-9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; 4-10 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
INFO: mammalucy.com
Dining and Cooking