A native of Tuscany, Massimo started out in the world of fashion in Milan. From there he went on to open a fashion store in Ibiza before one of his best friends, a Milanese restaurateur, suggested he start a restaurant on the white island. Shortly afterwards, he found the ideal location, an antiques shop on the Ibiza Town to San Antonio road.
Recognising that he wasn’t naturally cut out to play the role of manager, he decided to devote himself to the aesthetic side of the restaurant. Meanwhile, an Argentinian friend called Carlos, descended from the Hapsburg aristocracy and the House of Lorraine, was the perfect choice to front the restaurant thanks to his considerable charisma and innate people skills.
Massimo never set out to publicise Las Dos Lunas, preferring to depend on word of mouth rather than actively promoting it. Gradual, organic development has always been the key to the restaurant, improving bit by bit each year. The locale did not permit photographers, to the great surprise of the King of Spain! The many celebrities who frequented Las Dos Lunas in its first decades thus came through hearsay alone.
When it comes to explaining the addition of features to the restaurant, his criterion has always been that of “Do you like it?” It's a pithy statement that typifies his no-nonsense approach to what he does, rather than pandering to others' tastes. In short, it was, from the very start, a love story. As he puts it, he’d discovered his true calling in life.
Among the diverse elements that came to characterise Las Dos Lunas was the installation of a classic 1950s Cadillac on the roof. As if that in itself weren’t sufficiently eye-catching, he equipped it with powerful blue headlights that could be seen from Ibiza Town, a beacon that attracted diners like a magnet drawing them up from the island’s capital.
When I asked him about his favourite artwork in the restaurant, he immediately mentioned La Menina, the creation of a Barcelona-based friend, an eccentric painter and designer of jewellery for the Tiffany brand, who ended up moving to the nearby village of San Rafael. Exposed to the elements for decades, its slow, time-weathered deterioration is something he appreciates.
Other 'coincidental' works include some paintings by the well-known Neo-Expressionist Julian Schnabel, a friend in New York where, along with his beloved Miami, Massimo spent many years. There is also a work by the celebrated Catalan artist, Barceló.
These days, Massimo spends his time doing what he’s always loved: curating the eatery’s aesthetics, looking after his beloved dogs and tending the organic garden from which much of Las Dos Lunas’ vegetables and herbs come. Meanwhile, it’s his wife, sons and daughters who have taken over running it. Like so much in Italian culinary culture, it’s a family affair!
To book a table direct at Las Dos Lunas go to https://lasdoslunas.com/
