A quiet area of Sassari. Via Ortobene, in the Sant'Orsola neighborhood, is just a few meters from Via Sette Fratelli, where, last week, an 85-year-old woman was attacked and robbed of money and jewelry.

"Nothing like this has ever happened here," says Giuseppe Dettori , who runs the eponymous bar on the street with his son Davide . And he can rightly say so, as the establishment, a staple of the area, opened on February 1, 1998, receiving the blessing of no less than two priests.

This is the last stop for the 58-year-old, born in Enschede, Netherlands. "My father was from Bono, my mother from Siligo, and I ended up here," he recalls. Returning to Siligo as a child, where he experienced the change of latitude as a culinary trauma: "I'd ask for ketchup and they'd give me tomato puree."

Then he started as a bartender, at just 14, in his father's bar in the Latte Dolce neighborhood of Sassari, and finally moved to Sant'Orsola. "There was a hairdresser and little else, and at the time, the road was unpaved. There were only a few houses," he recalls. Now the neighborhood has exploded, with 6,500 inhabitants, divided into north and south, and along Via Ortobene and surrounding streets, a sprawl of buildings rise, mostly built by cooperatives. The bar remains there, a landmark and imbued with a British aura, thanks to its pub-like wooden interior and a model phone booth near the counter, where the word "telephone" stands out, and inside, in place of the receiver, are piles of books.

"The first ones I put up were two Dylan Dog comics, and then it filled up. Everyone can take the volumes, read them, or bring their own," he explains. Everything is as relaxed as the atmosphere inside and outside the shop, a far cry from a week ago, with the sirens of the state police just a stone's throw away.

Giuseppe and Davide assure us they've never had any problems: "We have no enemies. We make ourselves loved." Their presence is also felt socially, thanks to their promotion of a soccer team project, ASD Sant'Orsola, which, founded three years ago, brings the neighborhood's youth into sports. "The fact that they play soccer," Giuseppe emphasizes, "keeps them away from the dangers of the street."

Meanwhile, Davide is considering expanding the bar: "I'd like to bring his name to other areas as well." He's also considering the location on Via Ortobene, which began during a pioneering phase and is now a firm fixture.

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