The Valley of the Mills: a strip of hilly land that separates Fino Mornasco from Cucciago. E’ the second half of 1800.

The railway, the steel monster, symbol of progress and well-being; downstream a wooden shed: two boards and four nails put together. Men work day after day, meter after meter to build the railway that crosses the valley and then in the evening, tired, they deposited their tools in that hut.

Winter is coming, and with it cold, ice and snow; someone thinks of stopping to eat in the shack, in the shed. A stove, two tables and that shed becomes a trattoria for the workers, a meeting place. Slowly he gets bigger but people keep calling him “Ul Casutin”, “The Casotto”.

The rest is history today…