With his wonderful southern Italian food Raffaello, Lello, Apicella was the glue of the great joy and passion radiated by Ferrari in its golden years. A splendid family that of people of Ferrari, who gathered in the same places exchanging among its components true and lasting friendships. Giants who confessed their weaknesses in front of a plate of tortellini or pizza. The food and the warmth of the host eliminated the differences between mechanics and top managers. All under the wise direction of the great Enzo Ferrari, a man of a sometimes unparalleled hardness but endowed with a highly refined humanity. The Drake simply knew how to live, how to be respected, even hated at times but always with the reliability and loyalty of yesteryear. And he tried to surround himself with men similar to him and Lello Apicella was fully one of them. A father and a friend for all his clients, with an immense love for Ferrari and its founder.
In Maranello the Ferrari of pizzas. “Lo Smeraldo” takes the Princing Horse men by the throat. By Mario Amodio on 16 November 2016.
The red is the dominant colour: from the fire that burns in the wood oven to that San Marzano, pulpy, which garnishes the meters of pizza. And what a pizza. Yes, because it’s like finding at the table a custom-built product of the category. An authentic Ferrari of pizzas right in the land of the prancing horse. It is no coincidence that all the people of the Maranello factory went to the Smeraldo of Lello Apicella, “Tramontano” doc but by now Modenese by adoption. From Jean Todt to the great Michael Schumacher, from Mario Andretti to Luca di Montezemolo.
Because, in addition to being a temple of cuisine and tradition (here the pizza is made with traditional methods and the San Marzano tomatoes are produced exclusively for the restaurant), the Smeraldo is one of those reference points for Ferrari enthusiasts and men of the firm founded by Drake. In fact, a corner of the restaurant is dedicated to the roar of the reds, where Lello keeps old F1 tires, bodies of some Ferrari models, souvenir photos and memorabilia. They all belong to an old relationship with the myth of the prancing horse. An indissoluble link.
The restaurant, located on the outskirts of the city and a few hundred meters from the factory where the most coveted sports cars are produced, was one of the first to have transferred to the North the tradition of Tramonti pizza. The one that is the most popular in every part of the world today. And Lello Apicella, owner of the structure, is one of those who didn’t shirk his vocation. Because he even discarded the Carabiniere uniform (another corner of the restaurant is dedicated to the “Benemerita” to which Lello remains "nei secoli fedele” (faithful over the centuries)) to continue that ancient family art, the catering, that in Tramonti was guaranteed in a small trattoria.
In 1974 he moves to Modena and opens his first pizzeria with his cousin.
Lello Apicella and his wife Anna Maria.
The following year he marries his wife Anna Maria Imperato, who still today shares Lello's successes alongside him in his life and work. Ten years later he opens Lo Smeraldo, the restaurant that, without fear of denial, serves the best pizza and where he has begun to host personalities from the world of sport and politics, including the unforgettable Enzo Ferrari. A Cavaliere della Repubblica for having been considered a manager of good food (the same honor was also awarded to his wife), Lello Apicella since 2002 has made his restaurant a real temple of catering by renovating the structure and proposing, in addition to a spectacular pizza, a cuisine that tells his places of the soul. He doesn’t tell the secrets of his pizza. And it's good. To experience its softness, fragrance, maniacal choice of products, you need to try it. And, at the first bite, it will seem to hear the roar of an engine.
Lello - the Drake's "pizza maker" - and the unrepeatable gala for Forghieri. Gazzetta di Modena. By Enrico Ballotti. 13 April 2019.
Lello doesn’t have a photo with Enzo Ferrari. And to say that he has several photos, with all the protagonists of Formula 1. His local in Pozza is a museum. A restaurant-pizzeria and a museum. "Lo Smeraldo", a corner of Neapolitan cuisine since 1985, is almost an institution. It is so for fans of "eating well" but also for Ferrari fans. A photo with Enzo Ferrari, however, is not there: "it is true, Apicella, who is a volcano, confirms, but that when it comes to the Drake he almost loses his voice, even if, to be honest, a shot had also been taken. By the hand of Benzi, Enzo's faithful accountant, who passed away a few years ago. I never received that photograph, otherwise I would have stuck it on every wall of my Smeraldo". The same Smeraldo that, on Tuesday, will host a gala evening that promises to be unique. An event, strictly by invitation, to celebrate a great like Mauro Forghieri, the designer of the legendary 312T. For “Mauro Forghieri – The Legend”, guests are expected from all over the world, true icons of Formula 1.
Despite the missing photo, the memories with Enzo Ferrari are many: «he considered me like a son and, perhaps, also for this reason I got a good scolding on our first meeting. I was waiting for him here at the restaurant, I knew he would arrive around six in the evening and I knew he would eat a sole fish. So what did I do: just before six I closed the restaurant, I just wanted to focus on him. Ferrari came and ate then, before going out, he stopped me to scold me: “Lello, this is your job, you have to keep the restaurant open even if I'm here”. A piece of advice that I have never respected: there was the Drake, the Smeraldo had to be closed. I am a true Ferrari supporter, someone who bought the first Red, a 246 Dino, with promissory notes of 200 thousand lire. Whoever buys such a car to make an investment is not a Ferrari fan, who does it for the love of Enzo Ferrari is ... Over the years I have had 17 of them: a Ferrari 400 was used in Sergio Castellitto's film dedicated to the Drake. The last one, a Testa Rossa, has a side full of autographs from drivers and technicians".
Lello Apicella with his Ferrari Testa Rossa and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Piero Lardi Ferrari “signing” Lello Apicella’s Ferrari Testa Rossa.
Born in Tramonti, Salerno, Raffaello Apicella is a well-rounded character and entrepreneur. The son of a Cirio manager, in 1974 he arrives in our area to pursue a career as a restaurateur. He launches and sells several premises in the province of Modena before creating the Smeraldo: "it's 1985". The Pozza restaurant is in particular a hymn to pizza, the real pizza. Sportsmen, not only from the Ferrari world, politicians, actresses and actors, showmen and showgirls, all at Lello’s Smeraldo, where in the kitchen, away from the spotlight, there is Mrs. Anna Maria, the wife of Apicella as well as the mother of Carla and Mattia Diego. “I have had excellent human relationships with many of my clients, including the most famous ones. A great friendship was born above all with Forghieri, the first man “in red” I met together with Lauda, Montezemolo and Piero Ferrari. Thanks to Mauro and Brenda, Drake’s secretary, many drivers came to my local. Among these the great Michele Alboreto who, before sitting down, always passed by the kitchen to chat with my wife».
Over the years, Lello has been appointed Cavaliere, Commendatore and, finally, Grand’Ufficiale. An important recognition also came from big Luciano Pavarotti: «he told me “Apicella, I finally know you. But, how do you do to eat a pizza at your place? You always have the queue ... ”».
Besides Ferrari and the Drake, among the idols of Apicella there is in particular Mauro Forghieri.
And just while the 66-year-old restaurateur talks about Tuesday evening, two distinguished gentlemen enter the Smeraldo. In their hands they have some parts of the bodywork of the Modena Team Lamborghini, designed by Forghieri and in F1 in 1991: "I'm also waiting for the engine, I want to put it in my museum here at the restaurant". Speaking of his local: «I have Ferrari pieces everywhere, almost all of them were donated to me by Enzo. Every now and then he would send Dino, his driver, with an aileron or a rim. This also happened … ».
Tramonti races … in Formula One. By Carolina Milite on 17/04/2019.
Lello Apicella has moved to Modena many years ago and still remembers with poignant nostalgia the day he left his native Tramonti. With him in Modena, in the deep north immersed in the mists of the Po Valley, he brought the values, traditions and industriousness of the people from Tramonti. And it is precisely in this mix of peculiarities that bind him to the land of origin that lies the secret of a decades-long success that led him last evening to be the host, in his restaurant "Lo Smeraldo" in Maranello, of an important red Ferrari event.
Carmen Russo, Mauro Forghieri and Lello Apicella.
The evening was dedicated to engineer Mauro Forghieri, who was the technical director of Scuderia Ferrari from 1962 to 1971.
Lello Apicella, Brenda Vernor and Piero Lardi Ferrari.
Lello Apicella with Arturo Merzario.
Joann Villeneuve and Lello Apicella.
Characters who have made the history of Ferrari and Formula One (Brenda Vernor, Joanna Villeneuve, Arturo Merzario, Patrick Tambay, Jody Scheckter) met, together with industrialists, journalists and the elite of Italian catering, to celebrate the man under whose leadership Ferrari has won a total of 54 Grands Prix, 4 drivers' world titles and 7 constructors' world titles. Mind-boggling numbers that could only be celebrated in the catering temple, Lo Smeraldo di Lello Apicella.
Lello's local, in addition to being an institution, is a real sports museum, full of priceless relics. In his restaurant you can breathe class, but also history.
Lello Apicella and Michael Schumacher at Smeraldo restaurant.
Among others, the great Michael Schumacher always came here and loved to eat in the room reserved for him. Lello carried on the family traditions. In fact, his grandfather Mattiuccio passed on to him the culture and art of Tramonti's "black" pizza, in the inn he managed in the village perched at the foot of the Lattari Mountains, on the skyline of the Amalfi Coast.
And Tramonti was also present at the gala evening in honor of Forghieri, testifying to the strong bond that exists between Lello Apicella and his homeland.
Representing the Municipality of Tramonti was the Councilor for Tourism who, during the evening, paid homage to Apicella with a precious parchment made with Amalfi paper with the fragrance of Concerto, the oldest liqueur of the Amalfi coast, created in Tramonti.
The rich buffet, which the prestigious guests did honor, was a hymn to the delicacies of Tramonti: “fiordilatte and ricottine” made on the spot by the Campanile brothers, “mastri casari” of the Valico di Chiunzi caseificio, “biological pecorino and caciocavallo” from Tramonti, “soppressata” by the salami factory Sorrentino, “parmigiana di melanzane” and many other typical dishes and excellences of the Tramonti area.
Between greeting toasts on the river of Ferrari memories and glories, the evening continued until late at night. A night that, in addition to Ferrari red, was also tinged with the green of the Tramonti valleys.
Lello Apicella with John Elkann and Piero Lardi Ferrari.
John Elkann on a visit to “Lo Smeraldo” of Lello Apicella. November 12, 2020.
From Tramonti and the Amalfi coast to a restaurant in Maranello, in the Emilia, Lello Apicella hosted the greats of the Ferrari world. The last visit is from John Elkan, led by Lello on a journey through time and in the history of Ferrari through the numerous memorabilia kept in his local “Lo Smeraldo”. Helmets, autographs, photos are just some of the evidences of how important Lo Smeraldo was for the Prancing Horse and vice versa. “The Ferrari myth continues with the passion and style for the most beautiful cars in the world,” writes Lello in a Facebook post.
John Elkann’s dedication on Lello Apicella’s Ferrari Testa Rossa.
A special dedication by John Elkann on Lello Apicella's Ferrari Testa Rossa, a car unique in the world seen by all the great motorsport champions.
Lello Apicella and Charles Leclerc.
Over the decades, dozens of drivers have been guests of the venue in the heart of Maranello: Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc.
Lello Apicella and Kimi Raikkonen.
A piece of the Amalfi Coast in Formula One, with the pizzeria of the champions "Lo Smeraldo" of Lello Apicella. November 16, 2020.
Who knows if Raffaele Apicella in 1974, when from his Tramonti decided to cultivate the passion for catering handed down by his grandfather Mattia by moving to Modena, would never have expected that one of his creations would one day become the second home of Ferrari. Yes, because the Prancing Horse stable has a unique and special relationship with “Lo Smeraldo”, the place opened by Raffaele, for all Lello, right in Maranello. In the 35-year history of the business, the drivers, executives, mechanics and managers who have made the history of Ferrari have visited him. The memory in Lello's mind is indelible of when Michael Schumacher decided to go to dinner in his restaurant without any warning. To the understandable surprise, to the consequent confusion due to the desire of the patrons to approach a champion at the peak of his career, to conclude with the compliments of the driver who was struck by the "cotechino del Duca con purè", which left him speechless. Michael Schumacher was just one of many to find a friend in Lello and in his restaurant a safe haven where to feel at home and eat products of the highest quality, many of which come directly from his Tramonti on the Amalfi Coast. The owner of “Lo Smeraldo” had a very special relationship with the father of the Maranello team, the unforgettable Enzo Ferrari, who used to go to dinner very early and for whom Lello has a very deep affection. Over the years the relationship with Piero Ferrari, son of the immense Enzo, has also become very intense. Today a deep friendship binds them so much that, last summer, Piero relied on the advice of the restaurateur from Tramonti for his holiday on the Amalfi Coast. Today "Lo Smeraldo" is a sort of living museum of Ferrari with hundreds of memorabilia, car parts, helmets, autographs and photos with which it is possible to take a journey into the history not only of our country. Returning to the drivers who have made an era driving the Prancing Horse single-seaters, Lello told us that he had a very special relationship with the unfortunate Michele Alboreto, who tragically died in 2001. A deep friendship linked Lello Apicella to another great man of the Ferrari world, Clay Regazzoni who, every time he returned to Maranello, would pass by to greet him enjoying some relaxing time in front of a plate of "eggplant with chocolate", a typical dessert of the Amalfi Coast.
Lello Apicella and his Ferrari Testa Rossa.
Lello’s Ferrari Testa Rossa, parked in front of the entrance to the venue, is embellished with about ninety autographs from the greats of the history of Formula 1, as well as the drivers who currently animate the world championship.
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