Modena, August 1, 2026 – Passion, love, dedication, loyalty and true friendship. This was all Marco Olivi Mocenigo, 42 years old, the creator of the project of the new ‘Bottega San Francesco’. Marco passed away Friday night at his home, after a long battle with illness. A shock for the whole city where he was appreciated, respected, and well-liked just like his entire family. Great-grandnephew of Eugenia Masi-Olivi, who in 1912 rented the walls of the first shop that rewarded the commitment and the search for quality and goodness of the Fini family, Marco had worked hard and determinedly to reopen what was once the delicatessen ‘Telesforo Fini’ at Corso Canalchiaro 139. A dream come true last year, with a grand opening.
A gift for Modena
A gift for Modena, made by someone who believed that kindness and hospitality were the foundation of everything. “Since I was a child I used to pass by the shop to go in and out of the house and every time I savored the scents and smells, so often I also enjoyed the flavors. From there my passion for cooking was born,” he said last year during the inauguration of the Bottega, on these pages. His research was linked to tradition and to all those typical products from small local producers.
His mother Elena was always by his side, queen of the kitchen
His mother Elena was always by his side, queen of the kitchen who had made her best recipes available. “The first opportunity we had to do something together professionally, when his Bottega San Francesco, in which he believed very much, was starting to come to life, we organized an evening, a month before the opening – says Marco Belforti –. An evening in which we brought together enthusiasts of the Modenese food and wine world and created an aperitif moment in his shop, completely restored as in the times of the Fini era. Marco made a great impression because of the beauty of that place. Then we moved upstairs, to his apartments for an unforgettable evening: everyone that night realized how a historic place of the city, which risked being forgotten, thanks to the willpower of a young man had found new form and beauty. What matters is that Marco did wonderful things and it was a true privilege for all of us to be there.”
Chef Carcangiu: “A boy out of time. Honest and kind”
Remembering Marco also chef Roberto Carcangiu: “I am speechless. I can say about that boy that he was out of time: a good person, well-mannered. He was a child of different times, of another era: honest, kind, trustworthy. A wonderful person. For the inauguration evening I prepared the dishes; I helped him develop the format, but I was there precisely because it was a pleasure to work with him.”
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Alessio Bardelli: “Impossible not to love him”
Alessio Bardelli from ’La Lambruscheria’ of Calle di Luca remembers Marco as a friend and colleague it was impossible not to love: “For the enthusiasm and human and entrepreneurial passion: only a year has passed since the launch of his beautiful new Bottega San Francesco when we cut the ribbon together with an inauguration that, like him, was full of emotions.”
Marchini: “One of the most sunny and sincere people I have ever met”
“We had known each other for years, we saw each other little but he was one of the most sunny, devoted to others, sincere and precise people I have ever met. A great loss – comments chef Luca Marchini –. A boy who wanted to reactivate something that seemed closed but he made it, because he gave what he could to make it important and it was. He will be missed by everyone, he is already missed now.” For Olivi Mocenigo rosary Sunday at 5 pm at the church of San Francesco D’Assisi. Funeral Monday, August 3, in the same church, at 10:30 am.
