Go beyond the recipe, interpret it according to your own taste and way of being. This is the first lesson that Federico Pettenuzzo he learned during the three years he spent away from The Favellina, when, no longer very young, he decided to leave the family restaurant to follow the Master of Italian Cuisine with Max Alajmo. "Despite my economics studies, I have always worked in catering" Federico tells us. "When my parents opened La Favellina in 1999, it was a natural choice for me to devote myself to cooking, which was then led by my mother, while my brother , more extroverted, supervised the dining room. But I needed to get out of the way, well established, of the traditional modern cuisine of our restaurant and to impress my signature on the dishes. The master marked the turning point that opened my mind ". that experience was followed by internships, equally important, with great chefs such as the Romagna Pier Giorgio Parini, Giuliano Baldessari on the Berici Hills and finally Enrico Crippa in Alba.

Upon returning home, Federico is ready for the new, for a contemporary recipe of traditional ingredients, lightened, enhanced with unusual combinations. Focusing on freshness, on the raw materials of the territory, such as game and herbs of its valley, but without the obsession with zero km, with ample space also to the fish. “I love bushmeat but also i seafood dishes”, Explains Federico. “The fish I cook is only caught, almost everything comes from Chioggia market and from the Upper Adriatic. And, strange as it may seem, it has something in common with game: both are low-fat meats, as he told me. Uliassi. Excellent for the light cuisine that I propose, where I tried to reduce sugar and fat, eliminate garlic and onion. By proposing as much as possible freshly prepared dishes”, He concludes.

THE RESTAURANT

Overlooking with a large terrace on the hills north of Vicenza, to Malo, La Favellina is housed in a rural complex of the former 800, restored by Pettenuzzi family, who opened the restaurant there more than twenty years ago. Today Federico is joined in the kitchen by a small brigade and his mother, who takes care of the preparation of the first courses. The room is followed by his brother Riccardo.

Of Marina Cella and photos by Michele Tabozzi

JRE Italy