Travel Reference
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Best Take Out
L'ANGOLO
LUIGI "GIGI" SALVATORE
Life is a combination of magic and pasta.
Federico Fellini
“I arrived in Quepos with some friends who were going to stay, but I was just stopping by,”
says Luigi of L'Angolo Italian deli casually. “I have now been here in Costa Rica for 20
years!” Although he hadn't intended to stay so long, Luigi is certainly not unhappy. While
it's far from his native Italy, he's fallen in love with the Quepos lifestyle and brought a little
taste of Italy with him.
“I come from Rome where the lifestyle, like in all major cities, is agitated, in a rush,
stressful,” he says. “It's not that I don't like my country - it's beautiful, but the pace is dif-
ferent from the one here.” After settling in the Quepos region it wasn't long before Luigi
found himself involved in the food business, as he had been for most of his life.
“When I was only 15 I started to work at restaurants,” he tells us. “I have always dedic-
ated myself to this type of job. When I came here, I made pizza in a wooden oven; this was
pretty much my job back in Italy.” After a few years working in the local restaurant trade,
Luigi was offered the opportunity to buy L'Angolo. It had been started by another Italian
familyandhadbeenoperatingforaboutnineyearsatthatstage.“Itwassmaller,”Luigisays.
“I'm the third owner. I have tried to make the place better, to continue to improve the food
quality. We always try to do things the best we can.”
