How do you give up on freedom? For Angelo Sabatelli it's impossible. The lockdown was a space that gave the Apulian chef time to reflect. Now he and his brigade have left with more force.
Sabatelli's cuisine has always been true, felt. The Michelin star chef follows instinct. On his mobile he has seventy notes with ideas for new recipes. "If I feel them inside, they will be good," he says. Remembering dishes made 30 years ago, he thinks they were too far ahead and today super current. But even if in Putignano sometimes it seems to work with the handbrake pulled, he does not regret having returned to Puglia. «I'm at my house and maybe I'm one of the few who does what he likes to do at home. And it is not obvious, since many do a job they don't like . Meanwhile, his +30 meat sauce boasts several imitations. In his restaurant the farmer and the critic are served in the same way, with the same intensity. He has a woman of character for many years beside him. Celebrate the new position of President of Chic – Charming Italian Chef. Here are his recipes for the future, with a greedy invitation for true entrepreneurs. Because in Puglia you can do much more than dance.

The hall

In the hall you will have to welcome, offer human warmth. In our restaurant we have always done it, we have always taken care of customers. Then there are those who pretend and this must change. Also because taking care of others should be spontaneous, genuine.

The menu

It will be increasingly essential. The tasting formula allows us to minimize waste and maximize the use of any product. For years, I have used almost every single ingredient, be it protein or vegetable. There will be fewer dishes to guarantee freshness. Better the osteria formula, in which you enter and they tell you: "Today there is this". In my opinion it will work to have a mixed 3-5 course appetizer, two first courses, two second courses, a dessert or fruit. Stop. For example, in our restaurant we are going to create two tasting courses, where the customer chooses the dishes directly from the menu. Nothing changes, but it allows me to have much more attention on what I am serving, without leaving anything to chance.

Raw material

There will have to be more careful research on local supply chains, the territory and sustainability. Do not use young animals, but leaders who have run their course. Lamb is better than lamb. Then you have to find the butcher capable of hanging a piece of meat and giving it to the maximum. For a long time I value what I have around me, even if some producers do not take it into consideration. During the event In The Kitchen Tour we saw the reality of Foodom, a widespread agriculture project born in Brindisi, which aims to bring biodiversity into the kitchens of restaurants. They have a fantastic vegetable garden, which is constantly changing, and I'm thinking of leaving an open item on my tasting menu to dedicate to their project. Because the vegetable part will count more and more. I started using it two and a half years ago, but I had to veer towards something more salable. Maybe it was too early. In the tasting menu, however, there is now a vegetable dish and one not, so the passage will be mandatory. Now we have a summer beetroot salad, prepared with different cooking techniques and textures, served with a "domesticated" strong ricotta sauce. Sometimes there is a fear of proposing things considered trivial in our context. But perhaps it is the enhancement of the simple thing that needs to be appreciated more. In addition, there must be balance, without pushing too hard on the bitterness or acid, to be used instead when nature expresses it best, for example in lemons.

Tradition vs innovation

Those who make innovation will always be inspired by tradition. Not to be a pimp, but also for the desire to give something known to the customer.

Cellar

There will be room for natural wines, which are perfect if done well. But the charter will be more essential, more territorial. If I had to start again, I would make a cellar with a maximum of 150 references.

Chef

He must be a person open to everything and everyone. It must also be a communicator. These are things that are part of one's personal training. Perhaps in my case, given where I am now, what played the most was sincerity and authenticity.

Women in the kitchen

We need women of character who know how to lead. It is a heavy job for everyone, men and women: everyone must combine work, family and children. In the kitchen they can bring a different touch than male chefs, more delicate both in form and taste.

Clients

I hope that the customer of the future will be more careful to understand, for example, that coming to restaurants like mine is not expensive compared to being screwed by those who carry the fish with the hook still attached, kept on ice to make it appear freshly caught . In Puglia we live on turnip greens, but if you give them a dish steamed and roasted in a pan with a fillet of anchovies and a cream of tomato made in a certain way, intense, it is not understood. And it's frustrating. This will change.

Puglia

The offer here has already changed a lot. What is wrong are the realities that sell out, which also offer you frozen or expired things. The customers were also distributed: before there were few customers and few companies that focused on quality. I hope for better growth and greater attention from hoteliers. In Puglia many structures do not have a restaurant, which could enhance hotels. But for now there is no one willing to invest. There are those who want to rent the location to restaurateurs, but better to make a speech of percentages and not of immediate revenues.

The young promise

I like Gianni Dezio di Tosto, in Atri. Abruzzese, I really like what he does. It takes character, no crickets in the head, no arrogance, which then only leads to making enemies. A normal person can do much more. Then there is another side of the coin: there are good guys who didn't believe it. There are brakes, difficulties to emerge, to impose itself. What I have seen in so many beautiful Apulian promises is just that: they did not believe it and they gave up. They preferred to do what everyone eats and live on that. It is difficult to learn to work well, but when you do it you feel really free and you never come back.

Text by Stefania Leo

Photos by Sonia Gioia and Valerio Napoletano.

Other Recipes you can read:

• Recipes with strawberries: our best sweet and savory ideas – ..

  When we buy a basket of ripe strawberries, we often find some bruised fruit. This happens because strawberries are very delicate and can suffer from heat, storage, but ..

• Bruscandoli, what they are and how to cook them in ..

  Have you ever heard of the bruising them? If before asking how to cook them you are wondering what they are, we give you a clue. The ..

• Zucchini and shrimp trofie | Yummy Recipes – Italian ..

  The trofie with prawns and courgettes they are an extraordinary first course of the Ligurian tradition. The protagonist is the ..