Tag: interview

Alain Ducasse, the interview: «Italian cuisine belongs to everyone – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

He loves Italy so much…
«I have always looked at Italy with great affection, it is no coincidence that my first book is called Alain Ducasse’s Riviera. It is my second country, the closest to my heart and taste. I always find it interesting, from south to north, each region with its identity, food, culture.”

It is no coincidence that in December he arrived in Rome where he opened his restaurants inside the Romeo hotel. Do you fear the capital?
«I have already been in Italy for ten years, at Andana, with the Moretti family, but Rome it’s Rome. We will create a cuisine that is part of the local one without touching the typical dishes of the city, otherwise it would be like competing with the pasta prepared by mother or with sushi in Tokyo. Rather, they will be flavors of the Mediterranean tradition, as I have already done in Monte Carlo at the Louis XV, the restaurant of the Hotel de Paris (three stars in the Michelin guide in 1990, the first hotel restaurant to obtain the maximum recognition of the “Red”, ed.). And it certainly won’t be French cuisine.”

How much does French cuisine influence Italian cuisine and vice versa?
«France influenced Italian cuisine in terms of technique, certainly not in terms of taste. We have the so-called professionalism. Do you think that in my school in Meudon (near Paris), I have people of 74 different nationalities and they all learn the basics; it’s like solfeggio for music, then everyone plays their own. We codified certain passages centuries ago, although it must be said that one of the first cookbooks in history with recipes is Italian (refers to‘Opera by Bartolomeo Scappi, he will tell me latered.)”.

And the Italian?
«Yours is a matriarchal cuisine, which comes from your mother….

True, but starred kitchens are mostly full of men…
«Ah, les machos! In France they are still very chauvinist, Italy follows, Spain is even worse! But the last are the Catalans!

Do you find that home cooking is the protagonist in so-called “haute cuisine”?
«Yes, except that you have to do everything perfectly, sublimate it. I remember a dough with brewer’s yeast and butter Riccardo Camanini. Rigor, perfection… I was seduced by simplicity and goodness at the same time. I love simplicity when it becomes absolute and transforms into perfection. Or, again, I think of “boys” as Davide Oldani who from a small restaurant in a small village has created a destination with uncommon professionalism. He does a very good job, very good! And let’s not talk about Maximò (Bottura), extraordinary! They were all with me in Monaco, even Gennarino (Esposito from Vico Equense).”

Interview with Massimo Bottura: «In my future there will always be a future – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The fire burns in the heart of Massimo Bottura, who is technically no longer the No. 1 chef in the world – since he entered the Hall of Fame of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants -, but remains at the top of the ratings of world gourmets and celebrities who want to eat his dishes, old and new. But fire is also what animates the “not barbecue” of the Gatto Verde, the latest jewel of the Francescana Family – as Bottura likes to define the group of establishments – which the 61-year-old from Modena and his American wife Lara Gilmore, fundamental in his incredible climb to the top success, they created starting from a country restaurant in Campazzo. A “family” that never forgets social issues thanks to the famous Refettori of Food for Soul, the non-profit association to fight food waste in the interest of inclusion.

Modena: the heart of the Bottura world

The heart of the Family is in Modena, starting from the Osteria Francescana in via Stella 22, undoubtedly the Michelin three-starred restaurant in Italy most frequented by foreigners. Every year a new menu comes out in the name of pure creativity, increasingly Italian beyond the names of the dishes and with a stellar pairing, where the hand of director Beppe Palmieri stands out. Just outside the center there is Franceschetta (a top-quality bistro) while in the first countryside outside Modena there is Casa Maria Luigia, a place that has recently been exalted by New York Times and around which the couple’s new book was born Slow Food, Fast Cars. You can’t blame him: a charming residence, with a few rooms and the collections that fascinate Massimo and Lara: works of modern art, vinyls (thousands of them, almost all jazz), sensational Italian sports cars, not just Ferraris and Maseratis which Bottura is brand ambassador. It is here that the Gatto Verde is located, together with the small restaurant that serves the nine-course menu with the iconic dishes of the Osteria Francescana, and the Acetaia Maria Luigia, restored in 2022, which houses 1400 barrels of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, even from the last century.

Bottura’s other projects

As a true Modenese, Massimo also revived the myth of the Cavallino, the restaurant in Maranello – right in front of the factory – which hosted Enzo Ferrari’s daily lunch for decades. And again the close collaboration with Gucci has brought the dishes and chefs chosen by Bottura to the refined Osterias in Florence, Beverly Hills, Tokyo and Seoul: the first three already boast a Michelin Star. Finally, there is the Torno Subito-Italian Restaurant format that the Emilian chef follows carefully: the first is located in Dubai (another Michelin star), those in Singapore and Miami are on the way. We are therefore at seven “macarons”, with more easily on the way. He is never still, after all one of his favorite thoughts brings together planning and concreteness, «The secret of success is getting up in the morning and going to bed at night doing what we have decided to do in the middle he explains with a convinced smile.

The Green Cat and Jessica Rosval

The Green Gatto is currently in pole position: a charming place, a French bistro atmosphere, but with a wood-fired oven and embers to provide (and create) heat. But it is the cuisine that makes the difference, entrusted to the Canadian expert Jessica Rosval who serves precise, fun and delicious dishes: baked tortellino, au gratin in a wood-fired oven with 36-month Parmigiano Reggiano cream such as fassona short ribs, marigold flowers, apricot and Yorkshire Pudding. «We thought about taking food out of the fire to bring it onto the fire, in order to create something unique. And with her North American culture, Jessica has been able to reinterpret territoriality: it is no coincidence that she has been in the Family and in Modena for a decade underlines Bottura, chef of the world and in the world. She told us her visions of her, never banal and which look far into the future. «In my future there will always be a future she repeats. And she doesn’t bluff.

How to become an inspector of the “Michelin Guide”: interview – Italian Cuisine

How do you get started in the area?

«With the apprenticeship: you travel for a few months accompanied by a senior inspector who takes you to the starred ones, one, two or three so that you understand the different levels of quality. Then you’re on your own and it often happens that once you’re free from those who work alongside you, you take away any whim by having Christmas lunches everywhere, but it all runs out in a couple of weeks. Both for physical reasons and because you learn to choose wisely from the menu. When you are prepared, one dish is enough to understand the place.”

What is the number 1 problem for an inspector?

“Loneliness. Getting the hang of it, you manage to organize a weekend in a beautiful location and have family or friends join you, but the beginnings are hard for everyone. I’ve had a crisis, perhaps in a remote place where they sent me, and even cried. Clearly I didn’t give up and stayed with Michelin for life. I always like, paraphrasing a famous aria, to remember what the motto could be Red Guide: «No one enjoys it because if you enjoy it, it means you’re not working.

On one occasion he said: «You feel the French breathing down your neck, always. They try to influence every choice, even those of individual stars.” In practice, it is like saying that Italians don’t count or at the time, perhaps, they didn’t count.

«It’s more subtle. Meanwhile, it must be said that decisions at Michelin are collegial: no one person ever decides alone, I guarantee it. Then, the custom of exchanging countries for important visits became increasingly popular: if it is true that in our restaurants, in addition to French inspectors, German, English or Japanese ones are increasingly noticeable, it is well known that Italians go to abroad. As for the breath of the French, during my mandate, I tried to broaden their parameters for assigning “macarons”, also bestowing heretical stars for the spirit of the era. “The star is on the plate”, it has always been said, I have tried to go further, to evaluate other factors. For example, in 1996 we awarded one star to Joia in Milan, eliminating once and for all the idea that vegetarian was synonymous with penitential.”

Perhaps they have only understood this in recent years