Antonio D’Angelo
Naples-born Antonio D’Angelo considers Formentera to be his second home, which is why he opened his “most personal” restaurant, Molo 47, in La Savina Port in 2017. Molo Café, Molo 47’s little brother and a more casual version of the original, arrived soon after. D’Angelo finds it hard to put the strong feelings that bond him to the island into words, but the facts speak for themselves. In 2023, D’Angelo received the “Best Chef in Formentera” award from the Gastronomy Academy of Ibiza and Formentera. His Japanese-Italian fusion cooking evolves each year, drawing on over two decades of experience as the head of Nobu Milan and the Armani restaurants around the world. At Molo 47, D’Angelo enjoys the luxury of expressing every aspect of his culinary personality.
Where is Antonio D’Angelo when he’s not in Formentera?
I still work with Nobu Milan (for 20 years now) and I’m also in charge of all the Armani restaurants around the world. As well as Nobu, we also have another restaurant in Milan where we do deliveries, catering and events.
What’s the secret to your success with so many projects around the globe?
The team is what matters most to me. You can’t do anything without a good team. It’s essential. It’s true that, right now, we’re running a lot of restaurants, so it’s important to have professional people by your side.
What is the team like at Molo 47?
The Formentera team have been with me for a long time and are firmly in my corner. Because Molo 47 is my restaurant, it’s where I do my cooking and what I really want to do.
Molo47 is my restaurant, it’s where I do my cooking and what I really want to do
What aspects of your personality can you see in the Molo 47 menu?
The Molo menu is a mixture of Japanese, Mediterranean and country cooking, which is my roots because I’m Neapolitan. Food is really big part of life in southern Italy, eating means getting together, sharing. We love eating well and like really precise flavours.
How has Molo 47 evolved since it opened in 2017?
Food at Molo evolves each year. For me, each year is a journey where I learn and refresh my cooking: flavours, techniques... And I focus all that on the Molo 47 menu. Molo is like a port: it’s open to all the world’s cuisines. I love it when I travel, or cook together with another chef... Because I want to incorporate everything I see and like into my restaurant. That’s why we have lots of new dishes on the Molo menu each year.
Why did you decide to open your most personal restaurant in Formentera?
Because the first time I came to Formentera, I had a really strange, unusual feeling. I felt at home... I’ve got a really special connection to the island. That’s when I started to think about opening a place here, because I loved the idea of opening a restaurant in Formentera. What I love most about Molo is that customers come and feel as though they’re at home. They can sit here for hours, enjoying good food and drink. It’s the atmosphere I’ve always wanted to create in a restaurant. It’s easier to achieve in a place like Formentera because people already have the right mindset: Formentera is a unique place.
How did the residents of Formentera welcome Molo 47?
The first two or three years were easy, because Molo was a new concept on the island. Now, we’ve earned ourselves a good reputation here. And that’s not me saying it, it’s what people from Formentera tell me: they know the restaurant and speak really highly about the place, the food... That makes me so happy because it’s exactly what I’d hoped to achieve here.
We’ve talked about Molo 47. But what about its little brother, Molo Café? What are the latest developments there?
Molo Café is another project that has evolved over the years. This season, in addition to the café, we’ve opened a small supermarket where we sell gourmet products that we produce ourselves in Italy. I opened a farm shop in Italy three years ago where we sell lots of totally biological Japanese products that we grow ourselves, such as wasabi, miso, yuzu, etc. We even have our own lab where we transform the vegetables. And now all these products are on sale in Molo Café.
And what changes or new dishes are there on the Molo Café menu?
Molo Café started out as a café, but it didn’t take me long to realise that it was a rather difficult concept because, although people eat lots of homemade cakes and other sweet things in Formentera, the concept of a patisserie, as I understand it, doesn’t really exist here. So, we’ve gradually changed Molo Café, and now it’s like a more casual version of Molo 47. Now you can come to Molo Café for breakfast, lunch, and starting this year, dinner too. We’ve also set up a delivery service for boats.
What are your future plans for Molo 47 and Molo Café?
The plan is to carry on, even though the port is really difficult because of the space. Each year we find out whether we’re going lose a bit of restaurant... It’s a bit of a challenge, but I want to keep on progressing and win another big award because Formentera is my second home.
How do you see your future, in terms of cooking?
In terms of cooking, my idea is to gradually leave the other restaurants and be able to spend more time on Molo 47. I’d love to have my own kitchen garden in Formentera, grow my own vegetables... My dream is to open a hotel in Formentera and offer my customers an overall experience. You never know – I’d like that a lot.
