L'Iseo behind him, the chef who seems to embrace the world, a caption that excites even those who have not known personally Vittorio Fusari: «I didn't leave you, you inherit my recipes that tell my ideas. Copy them and make them live by building a better world through food . More than a testament, it is a (huge) passage of responsibility that the cook leaves to colleagues, friends, the food and wine circuit: the Corriere della Sera of Brescia – never happened – dedicated the 'fund' to him, titled "The atypical legacy of a chef". In fact, Fusari was not a cover cook, he did not prophesy at conferences, you had to go and see him because he did not seek the limelight. He was loved in the environment for his frank and lively character, but never in the spotlight. Considering it non-mediatic is however a paradox considering that he knew how to talk about every topic not by hearsay (which is not common for the category) in 2009 he showed his recipes on Gambero Rosso Channel. proposing even lake fish which at the time was cooked by very few and appreciated even less.

Il Volto, the first "cultured" tavern

Fusari's charm (and therefore also the weak point) was this: to go straight on one's way, limiting work compromises to a minimum, and often anticipating the times. Starting from the fact that he must be considered the noble father of the concept of "gourmet tavern", a term he did not like. Son of railway worker and stationmaster in turn, studies in philosophy, Fusari surprised the "circuit" with the Face in Iseo, in 1981, opened with a work colleague and an Italian teacher: three self-taught enthusiasts who dreamed of the perfect place for them. The inhabitants of the lakeside town played trump cards in front of the calycists' counter while gourmets dined in the dining room, combining sensational wines with well-kept dishes. Among the regulars, there were characters like Luigi Veronelli, Maurizio Zanella, Gianni Mura who made a great contribution to Fusari's fame and pushed him to the qualitative leap, consolidated by a three-year internship at the Marquesan temple in via Bonvesin della Riva.

The iconic dishes

So in 1987, they were born The masks which for eight years is his laboratory of continuous experimentation. There are dishes that become his classics: the Potato and caviar puff pastry – one of the great dishes of Italian cuisine at the end of the millennium – Duck in savoy cabbage, with chestnut cream and duck liver pralines wrapped in anchovies and savoy cabbage, the liver "Venetian". Not surprisingly, while the Face continues to be a simple tavern, Le Maschere grows and obtains the Michelin star in 1992. In March 1995, the story of this restaurant that had never found economic stability ended: Fusari returned to the old tavern, but with a heavy baggage of new dishes and the awareness of having taken the right path. In a few months, he changes hands and The face it blends the two experiences in an almost perfect alchemy: a humble country restaurant with the solid and creative cuisine of an expert chef. In 1998, to his general surprise, he regained the Michelin Star.

The Pantry: an innovative format

At the end of 2007, he left Iseo and moved to the plain for another great intuition, opening in 2009 with Vittorio Moretti – patron of Bellavista – the Pantry & Wines of Adro: many souls to make people feel good from breakfast at night, widening the beloved Italian tavern concept to a multifunctional space where you can also buy bread, cold cuts, bottles of wine. "Because it is people who make a place, not vice versa" is one of his mantras. The pantry becomes an important boost for the development of Franciacorta, giving space to all the handicraft productions and the cellars of the territory, who moreover knows how to tell and promote being a great connoisseur and passionate about wines, with a historical passion for Barolo, first of all that of Aldo Conterno. There has always been a good drink at its premises, at fair prices: this also speaks volumes about the man and the patron. And he was absolutely convinced that for the Franciacorta DOCG "The best is yet to come, thanks to aging vineyards, the experience of men and collective work".

Love for the South, Milan and Bergamo

Slow Food follower of the first hour (and nominated Meritorious of gastronomy by Carlin Petrini), has never been affected by "localism", in fact he had a weakness for the South (from which his second wife comes) which translated into masterful dishes such as the cuttlefish ink monococco with prawns and buffalo mozzarella or the Buffalo mozzarella with oysters, the latter already on paper at the Face. The last stages of his career saw him in Milan in 2015, taking over from Matias Perdomo in the leadership of the prestigious Pont de Fer, where he finds a happy balance between his cuisine, the Milanese classics and a pinch of novelty. Without really conquering the city's gourmet, however, stunned by the dozens of new openings in the year of the Expo. Then, in 2018, the attempt to relaunch the Balzer, historical place in Bergamo, also and above all for the desire to spend more time with his wife Patrizia and young son Giacomo.

Attention to food

Increasingly convinced of the close relationship between life and nutrition ("Before the good, there must be the healthy", he repeated to his brigades), Fusari had written a couple of years ago Happiness tastes like health, together with Professor Luigi Fontana: a volume that explains much of a natural philosophy, developed year after year, also for the hospital experiences that unfortunately had become frequent in recent years. We remember when at Balzer – where we last met him in September – he proudly told us that preparations, additives and preservatives were prohibited for the benefit of fresh raw materials, local biodiversity, organic products. Moreover, since the time of Iseo, the chef from Brescia was "sick" of raw materials: his regularity in frequenting the fish, meat and vegetable markets (also in Milan) where he often bought very good products, without the paper of the moment, required him. It was the starting point to create new dishes, but basically there was the pleasure of a true gourmet.

Fantasy and tradition

From the culinary point of view, Fusari has had (in our very personal judgment) three merits. Already with the first Face, but even more with Le Maschere and the second Face, he managed (well ahead of his time, easy to do today) to find balance by combining high and low, noble and humble, expensive and "bar" products (see raw fish or tempura with Campari sorbet in addition to the dishes mentioned above). Then, aware that the tradition should be rewritten, was not afraid to face it with valid results as in the case of Beef in oil 2.0, a reinterpretation at Pont de Fer of the symbolic dish of Franciacorta which he had already tried to rework on previous occasions. Instead of the classic slice of beef, dipped in a sauce of oil and anchovies, it changed the pattern, making polenta a sandwich for meat cooked at low temperature.

Master of fresh water

Finally, no one like him – in the history of Italian cuisine – has praised freshwater fish – of his Iseo but not only – in such a massive and refined way: in the period of the Pantry, his brigade knew how to execute about forty recipes on the theme. Based on the catch of the season and day (another right fixation) six to seven plates entered the menu. Among the masterpieces, we mention the "marchesiani" cold sturgeon tagliolini and caviar, onion salad, dried sardines and cuttlefish ink, stuffed and … not filled tench, the legendary whitefish fillets, bread and salt, the sturgeon Zuccotto, sturgeon ice cream and caviar, the provocative catfish fish Ceviche. That said, Fusari will also be remembered for humanity out of the ordinary – in the kitchen and in life – as for the ethics of food, ante litteram, not trendy. One day he wrote: "My work is also outside the kitchens: handing down the millenary wisdom of Italian gastronomy is my life. Because good food brings people together, helps to find common points of view, helps to be happy . Thanks for everything, Vittorio.