Photography: Vincent Remy
By day, the district is teeming with business people; at night and on weekends, Kirchberg attracts visitors for its cinema, concert hall and shopping malls. In Luxembourg's 'hip and happening' financial district, behind a façade of glass and steel, you will find Il Tocco since this spring. It is the Manso Group's first Italian restaurant, with currently 10 more Mediterranean restaurants in Luxembourg.
Wine tunnel
This office building with indoor gallery was the ideal location for the Italian dream of the golden trio behind the Manso Group, says Yannis Xydias, one of the CEOs. Previously, a branch of German pizza and pasta bar chain Vapiano sat here, but it went bankrupt. 'This is not the first time we have revived a moribund location,' Xydias states not without pride. 'In this place, we could give the 'Italian 'cucina', after all the cradle of southern European cuisine, the space it deserves.' 'We wanted visitors' memories of Vapiano to fade immediately upon entering,' Xydias explains. And so he devised a spectacular entrance, the wine tunnel. 'Surrounded by bottles of Italian wine, even on the ceiling where handmade chandeliers illuminate the tunnel, you enter. You see something happen on the faces of our guests, they are immediately immersed in the good Italian life.'
Theatre to smoke
And that's just the beginning. The open kitchen placed in the centre gives a view of the chefs at work: chef Andrea Cavaliere, his right-hand man and 'sous' Luigi Catucci and pizzaiolo Christian Ruocco. A theatre of smoke, flames and seductive scents adds a dash of Italian drama. 'Passione,' states Xydias decidedly. The secret? 'The best ingredients, simple but outstanding. Really good tomatoes, you might pay a little bit more for that but the difference on your plate is much bigger.' And then that all-important chef's 'touch', or 'il tocco'. For the menu, we travelled across Italy several times in search of the best flavours and dishes. The choice is huge, and also surprising: the 'crocantella' by our crackling pizzaiolo is a bestseller: a pizza with pumpkin and toasted almonds.'
Amore & Sapore
Besides the passion in the kitchen, the interior is made up of 'Amore' says Xydias, pointing to the section to the left of the entrance, with sofas and chairs in feminine, round shapes in soft terracotta-coloured fabrics. And 'Sapore', which refers to taste, with a ceiling full of lemons, good for lots of selfies on Instagram and TikTok - after all, one of the yardsticks of a world-class place.
Il Tocco is nothing like Kirchberg's other seven Manso restaurants. 'Luxembourg is far too small for a chain. Plus: we ourselves find it far too boring to do the same trick all the time. Rather, we are guided by our inspiration and the locations we spot. We are the anti-chain group "coming to town", we prefer to be epic.'
Manso Group
Together with Remy Manso, Xydias laid the foundation of the Manso Group about 10 years ago. 'Remy's father owned two restaurants and a bar, where I met Remy. He was a bartender there and I played there as a DJ during events. In secret, because Remy's father wouldn't like it, we then opened bar Epic, in the caves under a medieval fortress. 'It was the perfect location for epic parties, where you could go crazy,' says Xydias, a Luxembourger with Greek roots. He eventually decided to hang up his job in the financial sector - 'too boring' - and, together with Remy, make Manso a household name in Luxembourg and the surrounding area. They have since opened 18 restaurant concepts - together with third partner Mike Stavropoulos - of which 11 are currently operational.
