Embers that return to the origin

By Flavia Tomaello, https://flaviatomaello.blog/, Instagram @flavia.tomaello

Certain trajectories that advance as a straight line and others that describe a broader movement, start from a point, move away and return with a different light. That of Alejandro and Sebastián Bernardez belongs to this second way of traveling through life. It begins in a simple neighborhood in the Buenos Aires suburbs, moves towards Europe driven by the need to grow and returns to Italy converted into a cultural proposal that speaks of slow fire, long after-dinner conversations and meetings that leave a mark. At a time when many Argentines walk in the footsteps of their immigrant grandparents, they embody that reverse path with their own imprint, they carry with them flavors, gestures and a very particular way of understanding hospitality.

The brothers’ childhood was spent in courtyards where the imagination organized eternal games, bicycles that promised adventures, and nights in which the family gathered around simple dishes that tasted like a party. In this everyday universe, a sensitivity was formed that would later find its natural expression in gastronomy. Eating together was an intimate ceremony, a way to share time and stories. The flan with dulce de leche appeared as an invariable closing, a repeated scene that without knowing it was sowing identity and memory.

With the years came the departure. Italy emerged first as a work horizon and ended up being a territory of personal construction. Sebastián began working in bars and restaurants from the most demanding positions, learning every detail of the trade with a mix of discipline and curiosity. Alejandro, with a practical and orderly outlook, knew how to accompany this journey, transforming intuitions into possible projects. From that fraternal alliance a clear idea was born, to bring Argentine culture to Europe from the kitchen, with respect for tradition and contemporary sensitivity.

Milan offered the ideal context for that dream. A demanding city, accustomed to aesthetic excellence, became the setting where the Bernardezes proposed their own interpretation of the barbecue. The grill was integrated into the design of the space, the selection of meats became a daily obsession, the chimichurri went from a rarity to a regular companion on the table. Every detail was thought out to build a complete experience, from the lighting to the pace of service. And in the end, always, that gesture that became signature, the soft flan accompanied by a generous thread of dulce de leche, a farewell that awakens smiles even in those who try that flavor for the first time.

The initial success opened a path that grew naturally. El Porteño stopped being just a restaurant to become a recognizable way of telling Argentina in Italy. The proposal reached Rome, where El Porteño Teatro Valle found its place in an area steeped in history, between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. There, the visible grill functions as the center of the daily scene, a silent choreography of fires and precise movements that transforms the kitchen into a permanent spectacle. The atmosphere combines elegance and warmth, a mix that invites you to stay, to extend the after-dinner meal, to feel that time adjusts to the pulse of the conversation.

The journey continued towards other landscapes. In Porto Cervo, on the Costa Smeralda, El Porteño adopted a different tone, more linked to the light of the Mediterranean and the serenity of the surroundings. The terraces overlooking the port, the carefully maintained interiors and a menu that accompanies the experience with Argentine and international wines create a climate where gastronomy merges with the enjoyment of the place. The roast maintains its prominence, the chimichurri accompanies with its unmistakable character and the flan once again closes each evening with a sweet promise that crosses languages.

Throughout this process, the Bernardezes consolidated a way of working that goes beyond opening stores. They built spaces designed as houses, areas where the diner feels welcomed from the first moment. This philosophy was extended to projects that integrate gastronomy and hospitality, creating complete experiences that begin at the table and continue in rest, in conversation, in the feeling of belonging to a place that offers something more than a service.

The inheritance that transforms

Behind the growth there is a biography marked by effort. Sebastián’s youth was filled with demanding days in bars and restaurants, with jobs that forged an ethic of perseverance and attention to detail. Alejandro provided the ability to organize that impulse into solid structures, to transform passion into a system that could be sustained over time. Together they built a society based on simple values, respect for people, care for quality, awareness that every gesture adds up.

This way of doing business has deep roots in the education received. Growing up in a working-class neighborhood left visible marks on every decision. The conviction that nothing is maintained without daily dedication, the certainty that success is built as a team, the idea that gastronomy can be a powerful cultural tool. Each new venture, from restaurants to gourmet spaces and proposals linked to hospitality, responds to the same intention: to create community around the table.

The path of these two brothers also has a symbolic dimension. His grandparents crossed the ocean looking for opportunities in Argentina. They return to Italy with a consolidated identity, carrying with them a tradition that has transformed over time. A larger story is inscribed in this back-and-forth movement, that of migrations as engines of change and cultural mixing. Today, when so many Argentines are rediscovering Europe as a possible horizon, the Bernardezes’ experience offers a clear image of what can emerge when roots and future meet.

The Argentine cuisine that they propose in Italy is experienced as a social ritual. The roast calls for sharing, the chimichurri accompanies with its direct character, the flan with dulce de leche closes the scene with an almost universal complicity. For many Italians, these flavors represent a discovery that opens doors to another culture. For many Argentines who live far away, they mean a reunion with memory. In both cases, the table becomes a bridge between personal and collective stories.

The Porteño Teatro Valle summarizes this philosophy with special clarity. In an urban environment steeped in the past, the restaurant offers an experience where tradition and contemporaneity coexist naturally. The grill occupies the center, the cuts are worked with careful techniques, the atmosphere invites a relaxed elegance that feels close. Eating there is like traveling without leaving the place, crossing oceans through the palate.

In Porto Cervo, the proposal adds another tone. The sea brings calm, the architecture dialogues with the landscape and the gastronomy is integrated into a setting of serene beauty. Each visit becomes a memory that combines flavors and sensations, a scene that remains beyond the dish served.

Today, at some table in Milan, Rome or the Costa Smeralda, someone discovers for the first time a juicy steak accompanied by chimichurri, orders flan with dulce de leche out of curiosity and ends up taking away a story without knowing it. That of two brothers who transformed their biography into a project, who made memory a tool for the future and the grill a language capable of crossing borders.

In the end, everything returns to the same initial image, a lit fire around which different people gather. In that circle of light, Alejandro and Sebastián Bernardez, children of an Argentine neighborhood, protagonists of an Italian adventure, narrators of a modern epic where success is measured at shared tables and in bonds that grow over time, recognize each other. Because there are stories that are written with words and others that are told with flavors, and this one belongs, without a doubt, to both.