Cuneo

Francesco Antonio and Maria Cuneo came to Hamburg from Genoa and in 1905 opened a wine shop with a distillery on Davidstraße; meals were eaten downstairs in the kitchen. Among the first guests were workers building the Old Elbe Tunnel; later came sailors, artists, journalists, actors and local St. Pauli figures. From 1963 Franco Cuneo shaped the restaurant, from 2005 together with his daughter Franca, who now runs it in the fourth generation.

The menu rarely changes. There is no pizza, but there are classics such as minestrone alla genovese, the Genoese vegetable soup still made by hand here, ravioli alla zia Rosa, fegato con burro e salvia, liver with butter and sage, and tiramisù. The house wine comes directly from Italy and carries a family label. All dishes are also available to take away, and under the name ‘Cuneo a Casa’ there are classics to cook at home.

The restaurant sees itself as a total work of art: honey-gold light, candles, wine-red walls, a photo wall of regulars, pictures and sculptures by well-known artists and a jukebox. According to the restaurant, there is no ‘best table’. Franco Cuneo recorded stories from this world in the book ‘CUNEO notte’, subtitled ‘Geschichten aus St. Pauli’ (stories from St. Pauli), illustrated by Bruno Bruni and Eduardo Arroyo. Cuneo is not an address for tasting menus but an institution for a long evening in St. Pauli, ideally before or after the theatre.