Eighty firms will take part in the Show Room consecrated to the home, with a single goal: to support the made in Italy carrying on the tradition of craftsmanship and the typical manufacture bond to the history of our country.

During this 88th edition there will be several moments thought of in order to proclaim, by enjoying food, the art of cooking and the quality of kitchen utensils, tools and accessorizes, necessary “instruments” through which the ingredients – along with the chef’s skills – turn into a memorable experience of the body and of the senses.

Alongside Regional Treats, a project dedicated to the regional cooking thought of to marvel the palate through the charm of a countryside story or of an old recipe, there will be interesting events organized by Macef in collaboration with Gambero Rosso.

The initiative will take the name of Cooking Show and will involve twenty participants per class.
Chef Luca Ogliotti, with an espert oenologist of Gambero Rosso, will direct these spectacular exhibitions. Each turn will last approximately two hours and the themes covered will be: Finger food, Veggie menu, Main courses of the Roman cuisine, Milk puddings and custards, If one evening at a sudden…, Today for tomorrow.

The program is the following:
Friday 15th at 11:00: Veggie Menu
Friday 15th at 15:00: Today for tomorrow
Saturday 16th at 11:00: Finger food
Saturday 16th at 15:00: If one evening at a sudden
Sunday 17th at 11:00: main courses of the Roman cuisine
Sunday 17th at 15:00: Milk puddings and custards

http://www.macef.it/
http://www.gamberorosso.it/

Italian version

Everything is arranged by the Hotel de la Cité of Orient-Express that proposes the tasty package Short Break in the Cité with a € 75,00 credit to spend on gastronomic goods.

www.orient-express.com

Italian version

Caviar is one of the most luxurious food ever existed.
To make its product even more tempting, the Caviar House & Prunier suggests a new really exclusive packaging.

Name-branded by Yves Saint Laurent, the special packaging contains 125g of black pearls of the best quality to be savoured together with a glass of excellent champagne.

An original and very tasty gift idea that will satisfy even the most refined palates.

To purchase it, at the cost of 395£, you’ll have to go to Heathrow.

www.heathrowgiftlist.com

Italian version

Twenty four new first stars have been awarded, well scattered throughout the national territory.

After Gualtiero Marchesi in 2008, also Ezio Santin, chef of Antica Osteria del Ponte, in Cassinetta di Lugagnano left the scoring system of the guide books. Among the most relevant exits is the closing of the restaurant “Il Gambero Rosso” of Fulvio Pierangelini in San Vincenzo (Li), together with another 13 restaurants.
Among the new comers we point out big hotels whose restaurants & bar went from being the Cinderella of gastronomy to the benchmark for gourmets.
It’s also interesting the section that Michelin dedicated to the “Big Gourmand”, that is those restaurants featuring a good quality for the price – 234 in this edition.
The most prestigious and complete Guide book for this edition took into consideration 6,306 business (2,392 restaurants, 3,914 hotels, 394 countryside B&B) in 2,076 venues.

All the new comers:
THREE stars added
Da Vittorio – Brusaporto

TWO stars added
Piazza Duomo – Alba
Antica Corona Reale da Renzo – Cervere
Il Mosaico (Terme Manzi Hotel) – Ischia-Casamicciola Terme
La Madia – Licata
Il Pellicano – Porto Ercole
Trenkerstube (H Castel) – Tirolo
Met (H Metropole) – Venezia

ONE star added
Andreini – Alghero
Ortica – Bedizzole
Roof Garden (H San Marco) – Bergamo
Vicolo Santa Lucia (H Carducci 76) – Cattolica
Baldin – Genova/Sestri Ponente
Al Vigneto – Grumello del Monte
Sissi – Merano
Castel Fragsburg – Merano/Freiberg
Le Robinie – Montescano
Hostaria del Mare – Modena
La Fornace di Barbablù (R. Palazzo Vescovile) – Noli
La Locanda di Bu – Nusco
Il Piastrino – Pennabilli
Cafè les Paillotes – Pescara
Meridiana – Piove di Sacco
La Fenice (H Villa Carlotta) – Ragusa
Glass Hostaria – Rome
Antonello Colonna – Rome
Savino Mongelli – Santa Vittoria d’Alba
Osteria del Pomiroeu – Seregno
Cinzia da Christian e Manuel – Vercelli
L’Accanto ( GD H Angiolieri) – Vico Equense

Italian version

Refined though informal atmosphere and delicious though not pretentious food. Matteo Fronduti explains to Luxgallery the philosophy behind Manna restaurant, a paradise corner just at the outskirts of Milan.
Class ’77, Fronduti worked for Armani, Trussardi and many others like D’O Cornaredo, selecting the best to learn the technique and fuel the passion.

The dream of opening his own restaurant became true in 2008. During this first year, his popularity grew significantly, and Manna’s too, of course. Curious dishes, not only for the palate, but also for the soul: half portions for who can not choose between ‘Mbhe ?! and Curiosity Killed the Cat

How did you come up with the idea for this restaurant?
The idea of the restaurant originates from a project and a prerogative: quality above all. After years of experience gained working side by side with great chefs, I felt the need to own my own place where I could entirely free my idea of cuisine.
The first objective of our restaurant is that to get the quality rid of excessive prices. We want our guests to enjoy our food not only once a year, or for important events, but every time they want.

How did you choose the name?
When we were about to choose the name of the restaurant we wanted it to be harmonic and effective, though not tied up to the environment. We liked Manna for the sound: it is catchy. And Manna is a lymph, extracted from bark, that, once properly cut, becomes food. It is recognized by  high quality Presidium Slow Food and some recognize it from the Bible as the food sent by God to feed the Hebrews during their 40 years in the desert.

What about your staff?
My staff is young though professionally highly qualified. The key factor to work here is that to be ready and willing, and hard workers without taking things too seriously, as I believe we also have to have fun.

Your dishes feature quite expressive menu names: where do you take inspiration from?
I wish to underline the fact that we first create the dishes and then get inspired by them, so to put a smile on our guests’ faces, when they read the menu. It is a sort of captatio benevolentiae, necessary to cut the distances and make out of the convivial moment, a time of true pleasure.

What do you believe cannot be given up when cooking?
Quality. When cooking, you can make different choices regarding the type of ingredient to use, but you can never come to a compromise with products’ freshness. Thanks to the experience and the technique I gained throughout my previous jobs, we are able to offer dishes that are simple though realized at the best of our capabilities.

Culinary art: what does it mean to you?
The cuisine for me is not art, if anything, it is craftsmanship, a high standard one, but eventually it is just a job.

Brunch together with writers? Where does this idea come from? What is the importance of events for a restaurant like yours?
Events represent what the restaurant aims to be, that is a meeting venue, pleasant and dynamic at the same time. It is not a particularly original idea that to merge gastronomy and literature, what we do is to offer such events under an entertaining light, as the brunch can be, giving room to young emerging writers.

Now you are the creator and Chef at the Manna, what do you want to do as a grown-up?
I would like to bring up and develop this restaurant and my staff. So, yes, as a grow-up I want to be a chef.

Here is what you could be tasting during this 1009 winter, but watch out: at Manna’s, nothing is given for granted and you may happen to taste a different specialty a day. Try to believe it.

Hors d’oevre
POVERTY AND NOBLENESS
Bread, mortadella, stracchino (soft cheese), and toasted pistachios
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
Carrot pie, ginger and squid
ALMOST LIKE AT MIRANDOLINA’S
Rock mullet in “saor” sauce
THE MIGRANT
Onion omelette

First Courses
MBHE?!
Pasta with beans
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT
Pumpkin toasted ravioli, raw red prawns and lard
NOW OR NEVER
Cream (with butter) rice, porcini and Bagoss cheese
ALDO FABBBBBRIZI
Bucatini with cheese, pepper and lamb liver

Second Courses
LAKE SUMMARY
Roasted eel, salted pike and trout terrine
CHEEK TO CHEEK
Guanciale (Italian bacon) with gewurtztraminer and braised Belgian endive
A STEAK
Beef sirloin, spinach and grape sauce
THE TURTLE WON
Lightly marinated hare with butter smashed potatoes

Desserts
GO AWAY DOCTOR!
Overturned apple cake with vanilla icecream
IF ONLY GRANPA KNEW!
Soft chestnuts, pine nuts and rosemary
NOW OR NEVER
Creamy banana and cocoa sorbet
CACOLATO
Hot dark chocolate with persimmon

Manna Restaurant
Tel +39 02.26809153
P.le Governo Provvisorio, 6 – Milan
www.mannamilano.it

Francesca Zottola

Italian version

A section of the space, with a seven-marble qualities wall on the background, coming from India, iran, China and South America, is dedicated to flowers: clients can admire a rich variety of orchids exclusively distributed by Trussardi 1911. The new concept store is open at night as well: it’s open everyday until 10 pm. Conceived and designed by the creative directore of Trussardi 1911 Milan Vukmirovic, able to interpret with his contemporary sensibility the excellences of the maison of the Greyhound, the new shop re-creates all the ground floor of Piazza della Scala.

The Café Trussardi as well, inaugurated in April 2008 (with the déhors designed by the architect Carlo Ratti and the vertical installation of green created by Patrick Blanc) now unites and shares its spaces with those of the boutique, creating a unique 400 s-m environment whose floor is made of over a thousand wooden staves painted with craftsmanship. On the first floor of the building lies the restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala, decorated with two stars from the Michelin Italia 2009 guide book, which has recently re-opened after a complete restoration.

Each of the group activity is directed by a young international talent: Milan Vukimirovic, creative director of Trussardi 1911, Massimiliano Gioni, artistic director of the Foundation Nicola Trussardi, Andrea Berton, director of the restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala and of the Café Trussardi. All the activities are created and coordinated by Beatrice Trussardi, who is managing director and head of the group. In particular, in fashion department, Trussardi 1911 represented for the group a great revolution but is a synthesis of the values that have always characterized the Trussardi world: craftsmanship, made in Italy production, use of prestigious materials, definition of the cuts, care of the tiniest details but also an eclectic and contemporary taste redefining the idea of luxury.

Milan Vukmirovic represents a way of working very close to today’s rhythms and values: as a  designer, director of a magazine like L’Officiel, buyer for a multibrand like The Webster in Miami and as a photographer has a wide overlook over all the variables of the fashion world. It’s rather the perspective and the outlook rather than Trussardi’s taste that have changed: Trussardi today is much closer to new generations whose values he represents (mobility, eclecticism, speed but also the great care for details and the taste for prestigious craftsmanship) and it is a luxury brand whose quality is easily be recognized.

Besides Trussardi 1911 there are Tru Trussardi and TJ: both expressing a more informal world, the former dedicated to the city and its rhythms, with its soft but elegant style, the latter for the spare time. Variety is one of the elements of the winning formula by Trussardi: each moment of the day and each occasion can be accompanied by a Trussardi experience.

The restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala is acknowledged as one of the greatest experiences of the new Italian Cuisine and, while it has been growing within its own walls cultivating an informal, elegant and cosmopolitan environment, it has also contributed to renovate the centre of Milan, offering a new outpost of absolute quality. The chef Andrea Berton has been able to combine experiments with a certain rigour in his proposals: the restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala is, in fact, a place where the culinary technique is never showed off and where the pure taste gets the better of complexity or of the research per se.
One of the keys to the success of the restaurant Trussardi Alla Scala has obviously been placing again the clients at the centre of the gastronomic experience: The great novelty of the restaurant has been the recent restoration of the room to make it even closer to the new identity of the brand. With a new inspiration, taken from the urban atmospheres of the contemporary world, the clients can now choose whether to spend the evening looking out on the spectacular view of Piazza Alla Scala, comfortably seating on soft armchairs, or in a more dynamic environment, right at the centre of an open kitchen with a monumental golden wall in the background. It is very important for Trussardi to keep the public away from the idea of a classic starry restaurant where one can almost be in trouble because of the gastronomic research.

Eventually the Trussardi Foundation is currently busy organizing a project which is still at an early stage when it’s preferable not to spread news. The Foundation became popular in the city because of quick and sudden events, but also because of more private and introspective projects, like the last exhibition at Palazzo Dugnani showing the films by the English artist Tacita Dean. The Foundation has a gipsy and varied identity that led it to gain over the past years an important role not only among the institutions of contemporary art in the world, but in the collective imaginary of the city.

Alessandra Iannello

Italian version

It comes into being the first urban hotel in Milan. Situated on the very central Corso Matteotti, overlooking the Duomo’s pinnacles, the new Boscolo Hotel Exedra opens its doors to the city. The five-star-luxury owned by the Italian chain, was conceived as a proper gathering and communication venue for all those people that experience the city of Milan: what is key are in fact the services offered, from the catering that is open 24/7, to the Spa (which closes at midnight), to the area reserved to exhibitions and art shows.

The Exedra stems out of the talent of architect Italo Rota who entirely revisited the palace on Corso Matteotti that formerly hosted the headquarters of the Imi Bank. Hotel rooms are all different from each other, so to highlight the importance of customization. The hotel hosts over 150 rooms, from the Superior Room to the Presidential Suite, whose prices range between 800 and 7000 euros per night. Clients can choose among three restaurants: one mainly serving boiled and roast meat, the second mainly serving fish and the third, serving international cuisine, is situated on the eighth floor and has a terrace with view over the Duomo.

To enrich even more the eating-venues scenario, there are Lambruscheria, managed by F&De Group (specialized in eno-gastronomic traditions of the Po Valley) and champagnerie. The Spa Suisse, stretching over 1000 sq meters, is provided with a pool with falls, sauna, hammam and six massage cabins. Among the treatments, there is also a champagne-elixir peeling with rose petals and a beauty treatment with ultrasonic-wave technologies. The director of the newly inaugurated hotel is Roberto Boscolo.

Why did you choose to open a hotel in Milan?
Milan is not a capital but it actually is as if it were one: fashion, economy, design are here. We want this hotel to be the very first work built for the 2015 Expo; the Exedra was indeed conceived not only as a hotel but also as a gathering venue for the Milanese and Milan’s guests. I wish to underline the fact that 70% of the hotel area is public. This kind of hotel launches a new way of being in the hotellerie sector. In fact this format will be maintained for the construction of the new 5 star hotels of the group and for the renovation of existing ones.

What are the common areas?
The setting of the street side conveys the idea of a city entering the hotel. In fact, big glass windows open up on Corso Matteotti, as if the people inside were the protagonists of the stage and those outside could enjoy the view of internal spaces. The common areas are the three restaurants that already exist, plus one that will be inaugurated in a few weeks and that will be headed by a very important chef whose name cant yet be revealed. The Lambruscheria, champagnerie and the day Spa are also open to anyone.

How did you choose this location?
I was visiting the building with my father Angelo, when it was still occupied by the Bank. He was walking down the aisles and could already imagine how the hotel would have been. Then he told me: “Within nine months, I will create a hotel that has no precedents, and then you manage it for the years to come.” I accepted the offer and that’s how this jewel came into being.

What can you tell us about the Boscolo group?
Today, the Boscolo Hotels Group owns seven five-star hotels that create the BoscoloHotels5 chain, and sixteen four-star hotels, the BoscoloHotels4. Atop of this there is the Boscolo Travel inside, a tour operator that specializes on group and individual trips in Italy and Europe; the division Hotel Engineering dealing with project management services for the hotel industry; the Boscolo Food % beverages; the Boscolo Academy (School of culinary arts); and the Boscolo Catering. All this means: 2000 employees, and an annual turnover that in 2008 amounted to 270 million euros.

What are your future projects?
In 2010 we will open a new four-star hotel, in Milan, hosting 300 rooms, three restaurants and a conference centre with the capacity to host 1000 people. The architect in charge of the project will be Simone Micheli that has already realized the Exedra Spa. By the end of next year we should also be opening another five-star hotel in Bari that a key-city for the southern part of Italy, but that has suffered for years the lack of a high-standard hotel facility.

Alessandra Iannello

Italian version

The Park, restaurant of the Park Hyatt Milan, represents the ideal place to live an interesting and fine gastronomic experience, set within an environment characterized by sober and refined elegance. The menu varies according to the seasons and offers a variety of dishes that merge innovation and tradition, with particular care for the selection of products coming from different regions.

The Park offers a creative cuisine, where natural products of high quality are the real protagonists, with their flavours and perfumes proper of the Italian tradition, together with balanced and imaginative combinations. A very rigorous selection of providers, mostly Italian, guarantees exclusivity and freshness. The presentation of the dishes plays a very important role: careful to the quality, its peculiarity consists of simplicity that doesn’t compromise the taste of the course. Every dish has its own personality, deriving from the presentation, the choice and combination of ingredients.

The wine menu is the result of choices that are never random, but rather of careful research and analysis; there appear the names of great and famous producers together with small wine houses, well-known at local level for their excellent wines.

The Park is distinguished by the excellence of its services that, together with the dishes and the choice of wines, contributes to making each singles soiree an unforgettable one, and one to suggest to friends and foe. The restaurant hosts 60 seats, divided into two separated rooms, surrounded by a cosy atmosphere. The walls are decorated with pastel painting by Kim Rebholz, young American artist. The porcelains by Jaunes de Chrome were exclusively realized for The Park and flower compositions are curated by Armani Flowers.

Mind and soul of The Park is the Executive Chef of the Park Hyatt Milan, Filippo Gozzoli who conveys a touch of Italian contemporary cuisine to every single dish. In a delicate period such as the one we are experiencing, in which it seems that trendy venues are the only ones there is space for, where the environment is given more care than the quality of food, The Park Restaurant, headed by the enthusiasm of Gozzoli, is definitely an address to rely on. The excellence of the service and the refined atmosphere make a difference.

Gozzoli knew that he would have become a chef since the young age of 5, when he cooked his very first smashed potatoes for his mother. When he was 13 he started working as Pasta Chef at the Ceresole restaurant in Cremona, boasting 1 Michelin star. After being awarded the diploma by the Institute of Salsomaggiore Terme, one of the most prestigious Italian hotel institutes, and having gained experience in well-known international restaurants (among which the Harris Bar, the Oak Room Restaurant – 3 Michelin stars – and the Gavroche Restaurant – also 3 Michelin stars), reached the Osteria in Los Angeles where he stayed for six months in the role of Chief Pasta Chef. Once back to italy, the experience of Filippo Gozzoli continued in restaurants of prestigious hotels until when, in 2004, he became manager of the courses for professional Chefs at the international school of cuisine of Gualtiero Marchesi.

Before arriving at the Park Hyatt Milan, his last employment was at the Bistrot Duomo, where he had the ability to offer the guests a sophisticated cuisine, thanks to innovative culinary inventions, together with a classic taste that is always most welcome by the Milanese audience. But, what is the secret of your art? “I love light and modern cuisine – explains Gozzoli – respectful of tradition, though curious enough to experience new tastes that merge the east and the west. After a period of daring experimentations, I like to go back to Italian traditional standards, which represent not only the foundations, but also the future expectations of a cuisine d’excellence. It is stimulating to re-interpret the most typical dishes, without making too much of them, respecting simplicity, cutting cooking times and making recipes lighter. I want raw materials to stand out, using vegetables that are normally unfairly disregarded as, apparently, less noble, though, I believe, able to deliver tasty combinations. I also revisited the section ‘Traditional dishes’ within which I used to suggest recipes of the Lombardy tradition; this year the regional criterion widens and draws upon dishes that are inspired by flavours of different regions of Italy.”

Do you wish to book special rates at the Park Hyatt Milan? Click here

Italian version

Rums are not all the same. In particular, the history and the quality of this liquor are linked to the Caribbean and hide a true art that has been refined throughout the centuries. To preserve and promote the quality of the Caribbean rum, the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers’ Association Inc. (WIRSPA) presented the Authentic Caribbean Rum (ACR) marque, aimed at supporting commercial exchanges and helping consumers to distinguish ACR labels from all the others.

Neil Morris, WIRSPA Marketing Director, stated: “The Caribbean is the recognised ‘home’ of rum and offers a hugely diverse range of brands. With the popularity of rum increasing year on year, there is no doubt that consumers are not only looking to explore brands, but are also seeking some help in the selection process. The new ACR marque will, we believe, help meet both these objectives, while also helping to give further weight to the development of a distinct Authentic Caribbean Rum category.”

The marque will not only serve as a visual symbol of provenance and quality, designed to help trade and consumers identify ACR brands, but it will also be used to promote the development of Authentic Caribbean Rum as a distinct sector within the rum category.

The range of Authentic Caribbean Rum that is available today, each featuring an extraordinary personality, reflects the differences of countries and people that produce them: a distillate characterized by climate, geography, personality and passion.

Individual ACR brands have distinctive processes of distillation, aging and blending. To reflect these distinct processes, it is planned that the marque will incorporate a three-tier classification system based on maturation and premium positioning.

Authentic Caribbean Rum (“base” label, black and white color)

In order to qualify at this level, products must be produced from sugar cane juice or molasses within the ACP Caribbean region. Products in this classification must achieve accepted industry standards of product quality and may be a blend of different rums to produce the desired characteristics. It is proposed that products at this level would be permitted to display a black and white version of the marque.

Authentic Caribbean Rum “Matured” (black and silver label)

A silver and black version is planned for products that achieve the base level but have also been 100% matured for a minimum of one year. These products may be blended with much older rums in order to produce products of depth, complexity and character. This classification is planned to bear the word ‘Matured’ and display three barrels.

Authentic Caribbean Rum “Deluxe” (gold and black label)

A gold and black ‘Deluxe’ classification is planned for qualifying brands that have been 100% matured for a minimum of 5 years. Products in this category reflect the true artistry of the master blender in each company. Products are likely to be blended from a wide palette of aged rums in differing styles. Many will be older but all will aged for a minimum of 5 years. This classification is planned to bear the word ‘Deluxe’ and display five barrels.

Of all labels, those that are currently available in Italy are: Angostura 5 Years Old, Appleton Estate V/X Jamaica Rum, Barbancourt Réserve Spéciale Rhum, Barceló Imperial, Brugal Extra Viejo, Chairman’s Reserve, Cockspur 12, El Dorado 15 Years Old, Mount Gay Extra Old, XM Royal 5 Years Old.

The West Indies Rum and Spirits Producers’ Association Inc. was founded in the late 1960s and is an association of national associations of rum producers in the Caribbean. Based in Barbados, WIRSPA was originally set up to promote and protect the interests of members concerned in the distillation, export and marketing of rum.

Italian version

Luxgallery is partner of the Park Hyatt Milan, the fine 5 Stars Luxury Hotel, Via Tommaso Grossi, just next to the Vittorio Emanuele Gallery.

Luxgallery readers that wish to try the experience of a luxury and comfort stay, can make reservations at special prices, just for them. Here how to do:

-    go to the website www.milan.park.hyatt.com
-    click “Room and Rates”
-    select the dates of your intended stay
-    insert in the “Group/Corporate #” section the following code: CR51529 . The special rates reserved for Luxgallery readers will appear.
-    Conclude your booking

Italian version

The style is that that has always characterized the shoes of the designer, refined and eccentric, but the taste as well, rigorously exotic, will not disappoint you.
The chef Philippe Andrieu took care  personally of the formula of these special amarettos and Loubuotin was in charge instead of the creation of a high fashion design.

A real luxury for your palate and for your eyes on sale since 11th September at the Ladurée show room in  Harrods and at the Burlington Arcade Gallery.

Italian version

Originally, the restaurant Hotel Majestic was projected and realized according to the neoclassic tradition and the services offered met the refined, although canonical, needs of the guests of the hotel.

Today, since the Chef Filippo La Mantia arrived, the style and functional concept of the restaurant has been revolutionized.
The neoclassical style has been enriched with big and comfortable circular sofas, placed around the white Carrara marble tables, handmade carpets displayed one after the other in perspective sequence as a single pattern, big barracat crystal lamps recalling the Central European imperial atmospheres and, eventually, the seats are a mix of high quality Italian textiles and velvets.

“My concept of food – said the Chef – consists of creating an atmosphere of home, comfort, service and food so to allow the guests to travel while sit on a comfortable chair enjoying food telling them something important but simple, traditional but with an original interior strength, so to make that experience unique”.
We met Filippo La Mantia who told us about the philosophy behind this new view of restaurant.

How did it originate the ides of this restaurant?
As all the beautiful things, it was born by chance. I met the owners of the Hotel Majestic of Rome at the Golf Club Cala di Volpe in Sardinia, where I used to work last summer; in September I went to Rome to see the place and I completely fell in love with it, it reflected completely what I thought of. Then we worked closely with the architects to create a restaurant reflecting what I am and what I wanted for my place.
The result is wonderful. A place where to taste simple and fun plates, meeting point for the guests of the hotel but also for the Romans and the visitors of the eternal city.
For the next fall, in fact, we have many coming events, starting from the International Film Festival of Rome.

Your cooking is famous for the aromas: where does this passion come from?
I come from Sicily, aromas are in my veins. The colours and scents of the Aeolian Islands, the Egadi Islands and Pantelleria, where I lived for 18 years, influenced my life leaving unforgettable memories and due to this, my dishes are a continuous homage to my land.

Could you explain your concept of “light”?
This term has been coined by critics and experts who have been studying for long my cooking and my dishes.
For me it’s simply “light”, it’s a purely physiological concept. Since I don’t love garlic, onion or butter, I looked for the way to emphasize the taste through the use of other products, like citrus fruit, for instance. Since I’ve begun to cook, my motto is “cooking the way I like it”.

What does cooking mean for you?
Cooking for me is the basis of everything. I do what I like the most, cooking for people.

Innovation or tradition?
100% tradition. Innovation today means to be wary of the fact that people have more difficulties to digest than 50 years ago.
I respect all my colleagues who use technology in the kitchen, I simply have a different way to interpret our art.

Your favourite dish?
Cooking for me identifies with Caponata. My recipe is absolutely traditional although a bit fancy making it fun to the palate.

…and at home who cooks?
I cook for friends on Sundays…but to be honest my wife cooks very well.

Francesca Zottola
Italian version