Meet Pietro La Rosa: The Prince of Greenwich
Welcome to the pub: The Prince of Greenwich | Photo Courtesy of The Prince of Greenwich
LONDON–Through the locked doors of The Prince of Greenwich and past a sign that warned customers of the pandemic shuttering the pub, Pietro La Rosa poured wine and handed out garlic knots. Only staff and a few regulars were invited to this party with a purpose: to drain the last of the beer together before it spoiled under the tepidity of social distancing. (The pub still lost 30 liters of beer.)
Though La Rosa took ownership of The Prince of Greenwich in London only five years ago, his “museum-pub” has become a public parlor with six pianos, 18 barber chairs, countless couches and passionate regulars to prove it.
To an outside observer, the travel-crushing virus, COVID-19, seems a particularly cruel curse for La Rosa: an Italian man with a flowing white beard running a pub in England founded on the principles of face-to-face friendship.
But even as the U.K.’s prime minister was refusing to close the country in early March, La Rosa was already voluntarily closing his pub; not out of paranoia or despair but out of love for his clients–his “friend-customers.”
La Rosa started working at his first pub at the age of 17 when he barely knew a word of English. “They were good people,” he said, describing the pub owners. “Owning a pub became one of my dreams.”
By the age of 20, he was managing one, and in October of 2015, La Rosa took ownership of his very own pub, The Prince of Greenwich.
La Rosa could never divorce his love for hospitality from his passion for traveling and collection. At 20, he met his wife, Paola, on an airplane. Over a dozen countries, thousands of artifacts, and nearly 40 years haven’t been able to separate them. Together, La Rosa and his wife have lived in many different countries, from Italy to Brazil to the U.K., operating pubs as a method of cultural exchange.
Pietro, Paola and their dog | Photo Courtesy of Pietro
“People go to pubs to spend time with people,” Paola La Rosa said. “We give them a beer to make it easier.”
The Prince of Greenwich: the Italian food-serving, English pub with a giant rhinoceros head and a sperm whale jawbone hanging over the bar is the result of years of travel and moving around the globe. “I can tell you the story of every single object here,” La Rosa boasts. “The objects are memories. They are people. They make me happy.”
He attributes the homey quality of his pub to his Italian heritage. “Why am I so welcoming? because it’s in my DNA!” Opening public houses has allowed him to share Italian culture–food, music, art, and friendship–with an extended family of customers all over the world.
Customers, too, have had their fair share of influence on La Rosa. He doesn’t pick favorites, but he has changed the menu for them. Take the “Pizza Twin Chippy” for example, a french-fry-topped pizza named after some beloved customers, a pair of twins.
Inside the pub | Photo Courtesy of The Prince of Greenwich
Perhaps La Rosa’s pub feels so much like home because it is one. His family lives on-site and many of their employees (hired more for their positive attitudes than resumés) live nearby. Between the collections and the ever-present family, The Prince of Greenwich feels like your eccentric uncle’s Victorian dream house.
La Rosa’s friendliness is contagious. A Standard review of the 50 best pubs in London lists The Prince of Greenwich at number 21 primarily because of its welcoming owner.
As the U.K. has shut down bars and restaurants, La Rosa does not fear the future. He believes, with the UK’s substantial aid package, the Prince of Greenwich can soldier through a lockdown for another two or three months.
With his own family stuck in Italy, he and Paola uniquely understand how devastating COVID-19 can be. “What everyone needs to do,” he said, in a rare soft-spoken manner, “is stay home. Then we can go out again together. But I just want everyone to stay home.”
Meanwhile, La Rosa has boxes to unpack, a piano to transform, and a narrowboat to prepare for his next journey: an exploration of Britain’s waterways between shifts at The Prince of Greenwich.