Tag: Massimo

Massimo Bottura and Vania Ghedini win GOLD in Venice – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

Trio of golds in Venice: under the creative direction of Massimo Bottura, it is Vania Ghedini the new Head Chef of GOLDthe starred restaurant ofHotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel.

After the last experience with chef Riccardo Canella completed last October, he moves on to chef Vania Ghedini the mission to relaunch ORO, proposing new menus that enhance the typical products of the lagoon and beyond. An important challenge for the gourmet restaurant, which earned its first Michelin star with the executive chef Davide Bisetto in 2015, following the opening in April 2014 after a careful renovation by architect Adam Tihany. ORO is part of the iconic Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotelon the island of Giudecca in Venice, opened in 1958 by the founder of the legendary Harry’s BarGiuseppe Cipriani, and still today a dream destination for the international jet set (ed: George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin chose to get married here in 2014).

«My cuisine will be in continuity with the culinary practices of the great masters who transmitted to me the value of this art and the importance of culture and knowledge. We will start from these foundations, from the places where I have lived in recent years, from Venice and the heritage of its lagoon, and we will create authentic and distinctive dishes. These are the values on which we will build the precious ORO experience… now! – chef Vania Ghedini

For the mission of value, chef returns to Italy Vania Ghediniborn in 1987 and originally from Ferrara, grew up professionally for several years in the kitchens of Alajmo brothers – since 2016 first at Le Calandre and Il Calandrino, then at the Gran Caffè Quadri in Piazza San Marco and as executive chef of AMO at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi near the Rialto Bridge in Venice, finally for more than 5 years at the restaurant Sesame of Marrakesh, bringing him to eighth place for the 50 Top Italy in the World 2023.

We are betting a lot on this original collaboration with chef Ghedini at ORO under the creative direction of an explosive character like the great Massimo Bottura. In fact, the management of the food & beverage sector of the structure is in the hands of the visionary three-starred and multi-award winning chef, also known throughout the world for his parallel charitable activities such as Food for Soul and Il Tortellante, early supporter of the candidacy project of Italian cuisine as a UNESCO heritage site.

Massimo Troisi: spaghetti with artichokes from “Il Postino” – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The postmanof and with Massimo Troisi, is one of the most appreciated films in the history of Italian cinema and among the most loved in Massimo Troisi’s filmography. Also because, a few days after the end of filming, in 1994, Troisi died of a heart attack. 71 years after his birth (19 February 1953), we want to celebrate him with the dish he prepared on the set of the film The postman: they are the spaghetti with artichokes by Mario Ruoppoloname of the character he played in the film.

Neruda’s postman

The film, directed by Michael Radford and by Troisi himself, is taken from the novel Neruda’s postmanwritten by the Chilean author Antonio Skarmeta. The film adaptation of the novel was strongly supported by the Neapolitan artist (indeed, born in San Giorgio a Cremano, on the outskirts of the city), who soon purchased the rights and asked Michael Radford to direct it. For this film he also renounced heart surgery, so as not to lose the presence of Philippe Noiret, the protagonist of the film with him.

From Pollara beach…

Among the many evocative and indelible places in the memory of those who have seen it The postmanthere is definitely there golden beach of Pollara in Salina, nestled between a high rock face and a fairytale sea, where Troisi and the poet Neruda, played by Philippe Noiret, throw pebbles towards the sea. Right in the municipality of Malfa, overlooking Pollara, stands the Locanda del Postino, a small accommodation facility with 10 rooms furnished in Aeolian style, inside the former home of the town’s parish priest. Here Mauro and Amelia, together with their children Francesco and Mariachiara, also run a small restaurant. «It was 1985 when my wife and I fell in love and, after studying in Messina, in February 1994 we decided to move to Salina, says Mauro. At that time Troisi was filming The postman, hence the name of the structure. In business since 2000, the dishes offered by Mrs. Amelia are based on local ingredients. «Capers are famous in Pollara, but also the siccagno tomato, which dries on the plant, and then fish at will, only the catch of the day. Like the albacore tartare with crunchy celery and capers or the pasta with siccagni tomatoes and caper pesto, up to the traditional desserts entrusted to the expert hands of daughter Mariachiara.

… to the island of Procida

There is also another place that bears the same name, but which is located on another island, where most of the scenes of Troisi’s film were filmed. Too bad, however, that the Postman’s inn in Procida it closed its doors last November. Right here, on the port, in front of the piled up nets of the fishermen, the love between was born Mario Ruopolo (Massimo Troisi) e Beatriceplayed by a very young girl Maria Grazia Cucinotta. At the Locanda del Postino it was possible to have dinner or stop for a coffee amidst the creaking of the fishermen’s boats and the atmosphere of the village. Inside the tavern, an entire wall was dedicated to celebrating the film with images, quotes and even the brown bag, the same one used in the filming. Here then is the recipe that Mario Ruoppolo prepared for Beatrice. A simple dish, made with love, in memory of the great figure of Massimo Troisi.

Spaghetti with artichokes Mario Ruoppolo style

Ingredients

500 g of spaghetti
6 artichokes
400 g of ripe or peeled tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
fresh basil
fresh parsley
Salt to taste
pepper as needed

Method

Clean the artichokes by removing the hardest outer leaves, cut them into slices and place them in a pan with the oil and garlic. Let them simmer for a few minutes and add the diced tomatoes.
Cook for half an hour, season with salt and pepper, flavor with a few basil leaves and parsley (or even without anything).
When the artichokes are cooked, season the spaghetti cooked al dente in plenty of salted water.

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.