Tag: Michelin

The joyful mystery of the Michelin Guide – Italian Cuisine

The joyful mystery of the Michelin Guide


Years and decades pass, but the Red remains elusive. Unfulfilled predictions, curious and often questionable choices, apparent imbalance between historic venues and novelties. Ultimately, its strength is to go on a different course, incomprehensible to many. Let's set some minimum posts

Net of any doubt, discussion, controversy, it must be emphasized that now more than ever there are three essential elements of every Revelation Star (once it was called the presentation of the Michelin guide…). The first: in a country made up of previews, background and publication of current accounts, the Red not only manages to hide everything until the last minute, but also afterwards (which, we repeat, is incredible in Italy). The second: cheerfully sbertuccia every prediction, especially of the insiders, so much so that we wonder why someone has not created a racecourse-like totalizer on the percentages of double or third star. The third: even the most expert critics and gastronomic journalists – as far as they claim to understand – have not understood the method of assigning especially the single star, not to mention the double. All talking about the infallible method to conquer it, some even suggesting it scientifically, and here too on Monday in Franciacorta, a good 50 percent of the new stars were known only to those who frequent or work in the local area. How do we put it?

The reality is that the Michelin follows its own inscrutable course. There are objectively a number of young and old chefs who are doing a really good job and recognized by the other guides, but also by the traveling gourmets. The Lido 84 case of Riccardo Camanini is the perfect example: you go through the Five Cappelli dell’Espresso and the Three Forks of Gambero Rosso (the top of their respective publications), but leave a place to a star that for the The Best World's Restaurant it is 15th – the best in Italy – appears to the most absurd, grotesque, delusional. Instead, believe us, he is alone Michelin. With less emphasis, however, it is a situation that concerns chefs like Carlo Cracco, Andrea Berton and Matteo Baronetto who are doing very well. Someone even brings up that they are together with Camanini Marquesans, forgetting that Davide Oldani (two stars) is and this year one of the last students, Fabrizio Molteni, won the Macaron in a good restaurant in Sirmione, La Speranzina. While the chef who replaced him at the Albereta in 2011, Daniel Canzian – good and experienced – has not yet been awarded, despite the fact that he works very well in his restaurant in Milan.

We plant it here, because the list would be boring (and it does not concern only the Marquesans obviously). It is to underline the joyful mystery that no one is able (really) to reveal and in 2021 the plus of the Michelin: because no one discusses the famous 30 percent more bookings in a newly starred venue together with the chef's emotion and enthusiasm. But it's how to get there the theme. The only buoy of the course that is well anchored – because it is underlined by Michelin – is the consistency of performance: it is not enough to make a bang, but once you have reached the level deemed right, there is no failure. And this explains why there are eternal clubs with a star that are vintage (by the author, mind you) compared to those born in the last decade. Quite right? Wrong? And the Michelin. On the other hand, here is the search for under 35 and under 30 – respectively sixteen and five among the newly starred – which on the one hand is meritorious, but at the same time penalizing for many good professionals between 40-50 years of age who (we are not afraid to say it) propose kitchens and work in superior rooms.

In this case, there is less mystery: it is called a very subtle balance between appearing conservative (almost reactionary) and showing oneself revolutionary, even with the idea of ​​the Green Stars, deserving, but linked to a cauldron of aspects that in reality by now characterize a sea of ​​clubs in Italy. We quote verbatim: "In awarding the recognition, inspectors take into consideration many factors: the production of raw materials, respect for work and the support of local producers, waste reduction, waste management, actions aimed at minimizing the use of energy resources and the impact of the structure on the environment, the sustainable training of young people are just some of the themes ". More of everything. Having said that, it will be the months (indeed, the years) that follow that will give weight to the choices of this edition that promised epochal fires – but we were the ones who thought so, as always – but it only fired good firecrackers. Or rather, he exhibited them with the usual style: there are champions who have been chasing the second Star for five or ten years and here is a very serious professional, but objectively not from the saloon like Giovanni Solofra, if he wins it starting from scratch with the Tre Olive trees of Paestum. It is the charm of the Michelin, the mystery that fascinates on the one hand and angers on the other. But in the meantime, we're here to talk about it. Again, so chapeau.

Michelin Guide 2022: the new stars of the South – Italian Cuisine


The 2022 Michelin Guide has announced the new stars and Southern Italy is the winner. Lots of news, including the only woman – and also very young

The Michelin Guide 2022 has announced its new stars. Among the novelties of the “Rossa” 2022, the southern Italy today shines more than ever. From Campania to Calabria, these are the southern chefs who have conquered a space in the Olympus of haute cuisine.

What a beautiful fresh air

Just 6 months after opening, Aria Restaurant to Naples got his first Michelin Star with the chef Paolo Barrale: «Such recognition is a source of immense joy but at the same time represents a gauntlet: we must always give our best to make a difference. A bit like it happens with children: there is a specific responsibility to follow them in everything and make them grow in a healthy and diligent way ", commented the young Sicilian chef. The Aria project, signed by the JCo Group, is a goal that Barrale shares with his entire team, from the brigade to the staff in the dining room (and in the family): "From Mario Stellato, my sous chef, to Giacomo who introduced me to the splendid family that is the J co Group, to Ilaria and Maurizio, to Letizia, Danilo, Angelo, Mario R., Luigi and Gianluigi. Thanks to Serena De Vita, our restaurant manager, to Mattia, Marcello, Chiara, Andrea, Mirko and Camilla. Finally, thanks to my friends and customers of all time but above all I want to say thanks to Marina, my only and irreplaceable life partner .

And there are those who doubles

We always stay in Campania, this time with the restaurant Krèsios from Telese Terme, in the Benevento area, which wins its second Michelin star. After the first obtained in 2013, always reconfirmed, the chef and patron Giuseppe Iannotti doubles and consolidates Krèsios among the most interesting gastronomic realities of the moment. “I'm also happy for my kids, whom I let down and who knew nothing. Perhaps this was the hardest thing for me: looking them in the eye and not being able to share all this, ”commented the chef. And he added: "We never stopped, even in the most difficult moments, we never got scared. Rather we have continued with our heads down, with the awareness of having responsibilities and we have continued to do what we know, to create new paths and invent solutions. This is the strength of Krèsios: to undertake unexplored paths and create new routes, when the known and comforting ones have closed. It is the strength of a group that for me is my family. We have cleared customs for a method: finally in Italy you can only do one tasting itinerary, ours is in the dark .

The twist

Surprisingly, the double star arrives without going through the route (i.e. without any mention) also for Giovanni Solofra of the restaurant Three Olives from Paestum (SA) that with tears in his eyes the first person he thanked is Roberta, his wife. Awarded for its sensorial and territorial gastronomic interpretation, for its proposals hyenas of surprises, the fine technique and the minuteness and precision of the combinations, often intriguing.

My Calabria

Going further south, the recognition of the prestigious guide also goes to Antonio Biafora for his Hyle, to San Giovanni in Fiore (CS) which wins its first star. And to think that the young chef has begun his adventure first in the kitchen of the family restaurant, "where I performed the first service during a graduation party, and the second in Caserta, at the kitchens of the Grand Hotel Vanvitelli. As soon as I got there I asked to start immediately, in front of me I had: parsley, potatoes and tomatoes . When the quality is recognized by the basic ingredients and by the skill with which to know how to combine them harmoniously, the rest is only a matter of time.

Fresh from the star too Luigi Lepore of the restaurant of the same name in Lamezia Terme (CZ) which, after the important experiences at the Trussardi alla Scala in Milan, at the Caino in Tuscany, at Il Comandante in Naples, among others, in 2019 began to write a new e, to do so, he chose his home, his Calabria. But with an innovative format, with broad horizons and, at the same time, with firm roots in the material cultures that characterize the territory's identity. Despite the "hiatus" of 2020, he is today celebrating his "coronation".

All the new 2022 Michelin stars in Southern Italy

Luigi Lepore – Luigi Lepore Restaurant

Hyle – Antonio Antonio Biafora

Aria – Paolo Barrale

Giuseppe Molaro – Contaminations Restaurant

Savio Perna – Li Galli

Francesco Franzese – Rear Restaurant

Nicola Somma – Cannavacciuolo Countryside

Fabio Verrelli D’Amico – Marter1aPr1ma

Alessandro Bellingeri – Osteria Acquarol

Stephan Zippl – 1908

Graziano Cacciappoli – San Giorgio

Jorg Giubbani – Orto by Jorg Giubbani

Sergeev Nikita – The Arcade

Richard Abouzaki and Pierpaolo Ferracuti – Background

Emanuele Petrosino – Bianca on the Lake

Fabrizio Molteni – La Speranzina Restaurant & Relais

Alex and Vittorio Manzoni – Osteria degli Assonica

Salvatore Camedda – Somu

Claudio Sadler – Gusto by Sadler

* Young of the Year Award to Solaika Marrocco del Primo, from Lecce

Congratulations!

Opening photo Krèsios (ph Marco Varoli)

Green Stars: a new story for the Michelin Guide? – Italian Cuisine

Green Stars: a new story for the Michelin Guide?


The new symbol in the Rossa marks a turning point: from now on, the sustainability of a restaurant will make a difference and the cuisine will not be enough. And if in the first thirteen 'shamrocks' there are so many famous names, the future is destined for the brands of young people

For the faithful of the Michelin Guide, 2020 – forgettable in many ways – goes on file with the debut of the Green Stars. It is also a marketing choice, the right attention to a trend that has been evident for some years. But there is no doubt that a different story opens up for the most famous guide in the world: Italy also follows what has already happened in France and in the Nordic countries where the Green Stars debuted at the beginning of the year. «They celebrate and encourage sustainable initiatives in the field of gastronomy. From wherever you look at it, gastronomy is striving to improve its activities in this key, so we want to be a sounding board ", he explains. Gwendall Poullenec, international director of the Michelin Guides. «Chefs have the opportunity to preserve their territory and their community. The criteria assessed in the field by the inspectors are new .

The evaluation fees

Beyond that the first list of thirteen 'verdestellati''includes valid signs, but leaves some perplexity (however, the discourse reflects that on the normal Stars), it should be emphasized that in the assignment we do not look at the kitchen alone, but at the green style through criteria such as the self-production of raw materials, the impact energy, waste disposal, social vision. Attention to the environment alone is not enough for recognition, like the 'nobility' of the career (even if the first round is blue blood, perhaps too much), but the curators have already made it known that the selection of structures is destined to grow significantly from the next edition. "The ideas, techniques and skills developed by chefs in this sense foster awareness of an entire sector and help create an idea of ​​sustainable gastronomy that can be a revolution and a movement tomorrow," says Poullenec. And it is no small statement considering the traditional confidentiality of driving.

The visions of the big names

It was said of the first list. With many heavy names starting with two three-starred: theOsteria Francescana in Modena (in reality, the Star would be for the many merits of Food for Soul created by Massimo Bottura with his wife Lara Gilmore) and the St. Hubertus in San Cassiano (BZ) where Norbert Niederkofler developed the Cook The Mountain vision, which changed the history of mountain cuisine. Then there is Davide Oldani with the new two-star DO, in Cornaredo (MI), attentive to the training of future cooks as well as the working model for those of his restaurant. The other two-star on the list is Don Alfonso 1890 in Sant’Agata dei Due Golfi (NA) with the Iaccarino family, a forerunner of 'organic' for fruit and vegetables – when it was hardly mentioned – in the splendid Punta Campanella company. Concept underlying the work of another southern family, the Ceraudo, which thanks to the owned farm has managed to ensure almost entirely the needs of Type it, the starred restaurant in Strongoli (CR) led by young Caterina, Michelin chef of the year 2017.

Joia, the lighthouse of the vegetable

Another place that (dutifully) received the Green Star is the Milanese Joia: since 1989 Pietro Leemann tells his vision of vegetable cuisine, designed to be in harmony with the earth and its sustainability. Stellato since 1996 is a place of worship for gourmets, even non-vegetarians. Less known, but always worth a stop, it is the closest star to Switzerland: green Lantern in Villa di Chiavenna (SO) that the experienced Tonola family – the chef is the young Roberto – manages to be self-sufficient from an energy point of view, also managing a trout farm. The production of energy, the considerable saving of plastic and two biodynamic gardens (fertilized with organic waste) are the basis of the work of the starry Lazarus 1915 in Pontelongo (PD), by the chef-patron Piergiorgio Siviero. Among the places that will be able to exhibit the double plaque outside there is Gardenia in Caluso (TO): for more than 20 years Mariangela Susigan has been collecting wild herbs and edible flowers in the mountains of the Morainic Amphitheater to use them in recipes, often archaic, which are the architrave of the menu. It also has a large vegetable garden inside the restaurant.

Castles and lofts

To close the group of 'macarons' that have repeated there is Virtuoso Gourmet – Tenuta le Tre Virtù: Antonello Sardi's sign, in San Piero a Sieve (FI), is quite clear on the vision. Since 2014, sustainability has been the cornerstone of the structure, which in the meantime has become self-sufficient for energy and has equipped itself with a certified organic farm with poultry, ancient fruit trees, olives. Tuscany has another Green Star, in that of Suvereto (LI): I ’Ciocio-Osteria di Suvereto where Fabrizio Caponi can count on the production of a farm equipped with a stone mill that grinds only organic grains. From the medieval castle to the most avant-garde structure among the thirteen awarded: House Format in Orbassano (TO) is totally sustainable. The building that houses Igor Macchia's restaurant is made with zero impact, the rural garden measures 2000 m² and recycling inspires the entire production process. The last Green Star is emblematic: it was awarded to a restaurant, formerly Bib Gourmand, much loved by gourmets such as La Crepa coffee, in Isola Dovarese (CR) which overlooks one of the most beautiful Renaissance squares in Lombardy. The garden and the vineyard are open-air pantries and there is no shortage of 'homemade' wines with cabernet and merlot blends. Merit of the Malinverno brothers, competent and passionate like few others: behind most of the Green Stars there are great families. It doesn't surprise us.

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