News & Events, Updates
The Morning Cuppa…Remembering Diego Sanna.
Posted on April 17, 2024
Diego in front of the chef table at RestaurantMS
Sad news today from Folkestone, England.
Diego Sanna of the RestaurantMS and late of La Tavernetta has shuffled off this mortal coil. He was a Folkestone legend. When I first dined at La Tavernetta in 2008 — on Clifton Gardens just a hop & a skip from The Clifton Hotel — Diego had already been with the family owned Italian eatery for donkeys years. A notable character, he mixed the best whiskey sours imaginable and table side Crepe Suzette. Flames an all. Also he was renowned for his rubbish magic tricks, including a false thumb he wore to hide salt.
He was both cheeky and lovely.
The passing of the torch from the owner of Tavernetta to Mark Sargeant
When La Tavernetta closed after more than forty-five years, the location was scooped up by celeb chief Mark Sargeant who went on to open perhaps the finest dining experience in Kent.
27 August 2022. My wife were visiting Folkestone whilst I did some research on Book 2 of The Gift. We stopped into the just opened Brasserie MS. We were pleasantly surprised at the evolution of the space. La Tavernetta was family run since 1973 and needed a bit of plaster and paint. Mark took the space and gave it a Chelsea hip vibe with a lush menu. I recognised Diego straight off from behind the bar mixing up drinks. I asked our waiter if the gentleman stayed on from La Tavernetta days. Our waiter confirmed he was. I giddily ordered a whiskey sour and Diego mixed it and brought it over to the table himself. I remembered his whiskey sour from fourteen years ago. I made mention he had been my waiter in 2008 when I stopped in during Euro Militaire with a couple of colleagues. He said he remembered. I doubted his word until he pointed out the exact table I sat at. Having him at Mark’s new digs brought a sense of the old to the new.
in 2008, when the location was Tavernetta. Diego is second from the bottom.
We visited the Brasserie twice more, enjoying giggles and fine service with Diego on all occasions. He always
Diego, second row at right having joined Mark Sargeant at RestaurantMS.
liked to end the evening with silly magic tricks which whilst not the least bit convincing were none the less a good laugh.
Daiana found him on Instagram and we all followed one another.
When we returned to Mark’s reimagined RestaurantMS we were sad to learn Diego had retired. When we heard the news of his passing some days ago it gave me a moment of pause. Diego wasn’t just a waiter. No more than RestaurantMS is just another restaurant. Diego was a living representation of a chapter of my life connected to a new chapter by the place he chose to work. Sadly, that chapter is now firmly closed, but I will always remember him fondly.
And his rubbish magic tricks.
Mark Sargeant’s RestaurantMS occupies a prominent spot on Clifton Gardens adjacent to Folkestone’s famous Leas. It stands not only as a testament to Mark’s verve as a chef, but also to the restaurant that stood at this location for more than four decades. It is also for me, in memory of the man, the legend, the waiter Diego Sanna. I’m honoured to have known him and saddened to have lost him.
As always, the journey is everything.