The little-frequented beach establishment where you can eat excellent seafood (opened by a former Serie A footballer)

Who remembers Lorenzo Scarafoni, striker in Serie A and B football teams? Surely many boomers and some from Gen X. Born in Ascoli Piceno and raised in the black-and-white youth academy, he was one of the youngest players ever to make his debut in a professional Serie A championship, playing his first match in Roma-Ascoli in May 1982. He was not yet 16 and a half. His last professional match was in 1998, at the age of 33.

Then about ten years in the sector as a coach – he was also assistant to Carlo Mazzone (!) at Bologna and Livorno – before definitively hanging up his boots. A few years ago he moved from football to the kitchen, dribbling with the same agility and enthusiasm as in one of his best matches, and since summer 2017 he has been running with his wife Elena a beach establishment in Marina di Altidona, Bagni Sant’Andrea, on the Marche coast between Porto San Giorgio and San Benedetto del Tronto, with equipped beach and a restaurant serving classic seafood cuisine.

What to eat at Bagni Sant’Andrea

«I’ve always enjoyed cooking», smiles Lorenzo, bandana on his head and glasses hanging from his T-shirt. Football and cooking have always been the striker’s passions. In his career chasing the ball – he scored 79 goals and collected over 340 appearances in Serie A and B, including 11 with the Under 21 national team (and with 84 appearances and 10 goals in Serie A) – he travelled all over Italy wearing the shirts of different teams. After his beloved Ascoli, he played in Bari, Trieste, Pisa, Cesena, Palermo, Ravenna, Ancona. All cities by the sea or near the sea.

Lorenzo Scarafoni (bottom left) in a group photo of Ascoli

The dishes served at Bagni Sant’Andrea are inspired by the recipes of the places where he played. «I brought their specialities with me: from Palermo, pasta with sardines and caponata; from Bari, tiella with potatoes, rice and mussels and pepata di cozze; from Trieste, scampi and mussels alla busara…» lists Lorenzo.

Always present are the national classics of seafood cuisine: seafood salad, marinated anchovies, spaghetti with clams, fettuccine with mixed shellfish or spicy scampi sauce, sea bass or gilt-head bream baked with potatoes, grilled calamari. There are also off-menu dishes on request, such as triumphs of the freshest scampi. Everything is simple, good, reassuring.

The beach establishment

The establishment, next to the free beach, is also very pleasant. It’s not pretentious. It retains a delightfully original 1970s style, with vintage wooden structures painted white, dotted with elements recalling the sea and fishing. In addition to umbrellas, there are gazebos with straw roofs and side curtains, giving a chic and exotic but not affected touch. An American vine runs across the roof of the bar and restaurant area, creating a very pleasant pergola effect, while strings of light bulbs above the tables create illuminations reminiscent of a village festival.

Many memories, no regrets

From time to time, a memory, an anecdote, some highlight of his football career slips out, which Lorenzo Scarafoni recounts with passion but without regret. Like promotion to Serie A with Ascoli in the 1985-1986 season. Or the victory to avoid relegation wearing the shirt of his city in the play-off against Brescia in the final match of the 1986-1987 championship. «A few minutes from the end I scored the second goal and we won. The following Sunday, in the last league match, we drew at home against Maradona’s Napoli: there were 80-90 thousand spectators in the stadium – recalls the former striker of the 80s and 90s –. Napoli won the title, Ascoli stayed in Serie A». Another moment of glory in his football career: the season at Cesena in 1993-1994, with 15 goals and «promotion to Serie A missed by a whisker».

The mood, the team

His team today is composed of his wife Elena, a solid woman, a true life and work partner who manages the dining room with character and empathy. Then there is Gianna, who helps him in the kitchen, «my right arm, my big sister», daughter of a fisherman, mother of fishermen and wife of a fisherman who has a little boat in Pedaso, the fishing village next to Marina d’Altidona, and sells freshly caught fish there. And then there are the young staff who go back and forth between kitchen and dining room, guided by Lorenzo with the focus but also the light-heartedness of a friendly match.

Bagni Sant’Andrea: Lorenzo Scarafoni with Gianna, his right-hand woman in the kitchen

A light-heartedness that Scarafoni maintains despite life’s setbacks. «I’ve had two strokes and lost some hearing», he says with dignified and tender sincerity. An affront that has not dented the spirit of striker and fighter, who lives his second life, supported by his own team of work, family and leisure together with his four grandchildren, with lightness and joy of life. A victory more precious than a decisive goal in the Champions League.