In Baia the “New Whirlpool” by Paolo Brancaccio is the restaurant L'Antro Divino

Bacoli. Paolo Brancaccio's "new Whirlpool" is called “The Divine Den”.

A small restaurant that serves fish dishes every day and honors traditional Neapolitan cuisine. For food lovers it is already a point of reference. The “new Whirlpool” of Paolo, who was a security guard at the plant in via Argine, is located in Baia.

He is one of the 430 workers thrown out of the factory. “I wanted to demonstrate to Whirlpool,” he explained, “that it is possible to do business while remaining human, that workers should be treated as they deserve and not abandoned without scruple.”

Paolo had been hired by Whirlpool in Naples in 2000. After just three months on the assembly line, the management proposed that he move to security. Everything went smoothly until May 31, 2019, when Whirlpool announced its decision to close production on Argine Street.

“We were considered a happy island of the Neapolitan industry – adds – a positive example in the classic relationship between boss and worker. We never had strong oppositions, we were a big family. For this reason, perhaps, the betrayal caused even deeper wounds”.

In this new, small enterprise, Paolo is accompanied by wife Anna Di Meo which, with the Chef Nicola Scotto Di Luzio, prepares the welcome and the menu for customers.

“In October 2019, we decided to rent a place where there was previously a rotisserie and transform it into a restaurant. Of course, the location is small but sufficient to develop our idea of ​​catering, sustainable from a human point of view and affordable for all budgets”.

There are raw seafood and many traditional Neapolitan dishes. "My clientele is at least 30 percent made up of my colleagues from Whirlpool. We often stay at the table to chat after dinner and remember the good times at the factory."

Also due to his family's working-class origins, Paolo, like the others, said no to the transfer to the factory Varese, deciding to bet on himself: "I didn't want to sit around waiting. We faced the difficulties and today we are here preparing dishes, proud of what we have built."