Tag: Viviana

EV-VIVA! Viviana Varese's restaurant reopens – Italian Cuisine

The summer of Milan (and beyond) returns to cheer the cuisine of the volcanic cook, birth bell, Milanese by adoption, cosmopolitan in spirit

Never stop

When it is said that moments of difficulty can often be the occasion for unexpected development, it can be taken Viviana Varese as an example: not only did she not get intimidated by the lockdown and the pandemic, but she transformed this extraordinary historical moment into an opportunity for growth.

After the initiatives of Delivery of which we speak in our June issue (the family packages "from up to up" full of the delights of its artisan suppliers), on June 5 another idea arrives. Is called Long live the Terrace on the Lake and it is a temporary restaurant that the cook calls a "contemporary tavern": it is located in Manerba del Garda and embodies one of the ideals that make up Viviana's "ethical" manifesto, the Family. In fact, he was born with the support of his sister Antonella Varese and the chef Fabio Mazzolini that in recent years with the local Dalie and Fagioli had contributed to making this place magical in the province of Brescia. From 5 June you can take fantastic aperitifs overlooking the lake, accompanying them with small Venetian cicchetti, or dine with dishes with names that make you dream and / or smile like "Once upon a time", "Did you eat grandma?" "… you tell your sister!"

And in Milan …

After the opening of the terrace, it touches the beating heart of Milan, Piazza XXV Aprile. Simultaneously with the reopening of Viva, on June 18, Viviana launches Live in the square, a new experience for the Milanese who can enjoy a starry aperitif in complete safety, outdoors (25 euros), followed – if they wish – by a dinner with tasting menu (70 euros). Italian bubbles, Gin, raw fish, oysters and signature cocktails in full compliance with the safety distances and with menus that can be consulted via QR code.

Who is more traditionalist, will be able to taste the tasting menus sitting at the restaurant tables on the second floor of Eataly Emerald, overlooking the same square, positioned 3 meters from each other. The historical dishes of the cook are the protagonists of the two proposals "History is alive!" (90 euros) and "Re-viva-l" (120 euros).

Info: vivavivianavarese.it
Viva La Terrazza tel. 3404082610
Viva tel. 0249497340 – WhatsApp 3400812364

ViVa: the colors of the (new) kitchen by Viviana Varese – Italian Cuisine

The chef from Campania, who grew up under the Madonnina, has transformed the restaurant on the top floor of Eataly into wonderland. Intense in the environment and in the kitchen. It will be one of the new musts of Milan to eat (and drink)

In a Milan that never stops, the most important opening after the summer break was certainly that of Viva. Same location (on the top floor of Eataly Emerald) and the same chef (Viviana Varese). But a change of name – which is the acronym of his initials – accompanied by a widely renewed design and a different vision from the previous one for kitchen, service and cellar. There is no exaggeration in believing that ViVa is preparing to become the prototype of today's Milanese restaurant: Michelin star, scenic architecture, opening seven days a week, young and informal service, great wine list and ample space for cocktails, coffee and tea. In the form Alice has renewed herself, but above all has changed in substance. It is no coincidence that Varese has drawn up a programmatic manifesto: a promise made to itself, to its collaborators, as well as to guests.

Wonderland

The place seems to come from a scene of Alice (curiously, the name that the place had until July) in Wonderland: intense colors, original decorations, a tendency to the irregularity of furnishing objects. "I cook rainbow dishes, because I need all the colors to celebrate the diversity of the world and its nuances," says Varese. "This is how dishes like Iride were born, a multicolored lasagna with cod and turnip tops, the Tortello Rainbow and the idea of 7 variations on the vegetable garden, which will change continuously based on seasonality, precisely because the earth is Viva as indeed the place is called. We will put life on the plate: it is not just a beautiful name . Viviana is one of the most famous Italian chefs. A brief summary for the few who do not know it: born in 1974, a native of Salerno, the family made fish bones in restaurants such as Albereta, El Celler De Can Roca, Enigma, Aponiente and Relae. In 2007, together with Sandra Ciciriello, she opened Alice Ristorante in Milan, winning the Michelin star in four seasons.

Ritu Dalmia's hand

In 2014, the place moved into the newborn Eataly Smeraldo. «Milan is a city that represents me, it is the only one where I can live and where I want to continue living. My territory is Milan so mine is a terroir kitchen, made of design, fashion, being cosmopolitan. The Milanese cuisine is not only one based on risotto and ossobuco, but the one linked to the lifestyle of today ", emphasizes the cook who in this great operation sold 20% of the company to Riga Food Srl, which from 2017 decrees the collaboration among the Indian Ritu Dalmia – patronages of Cittamani and Spica – and entrepreneur Analjit Singh through Leeu Collection. Also in this way the resources to strengthen the staff that has veterans like Ida Brenna (sous chef and chief pastry chef) and Matteo Carnaghi (sous chef) have been found; and then entrust the room to two talents: the director Luis Diaz (best young maitre of Italy in 2017) and Gianluca De Marco, second maitre.

A super billboard

Based on the needs of the market, from Monday to Friday, Viviana Varese has created a special "business lunch" that follows the times and rhythms of nature: 45 € for 7 variations on the vegetable garden, a main dish, dessert; or € 58 for the 7 variations on the vegetable garden, two main courses and dessert. At dinner you choose from a very rich card, where the fish still plays a fundamental and fun role (just read the names of the colorful plates that are visible in our gallery); or you rely on the two tastings of € 125 and € 150. The idea of opening the kitchen of ViVa to some of the most prestigious chefs who will take the reins of the resident brigade is also lucid, while Viviana will only take care of the desserts. Eight event evenings scheduled starting in October, and then continuing in 2020 with a calendar of extraordinary events: it starts with Tim Butler, directly from Bangkok, while next year Mauro Colagreco del Mirazur, the current number, will also pass 1 in the world. Pass the play on words, but ViVa promises to be a very ViVace place.

VIVA: the color kitchen by Viviana Varese – Italian Cuisine

"Life needs color". This is the leitmotiv of the revolution of Viviana Varese at the inauguration of VIVA, the new look of his restaurant inside Eataly Emerald, in Milan.
VIVA is the – natural – evolution of Alice, the sign that accompanied Viviana from 2007: first in via Adige then, after the Michelin star (obtained in 2011), in Piazza XXV Aprile, inside the branded food store Oscar Farinetti.
This new chapter in the history of the cook from Salerno has as its title theacronym of his name and surname, which is also an exhortation, a stimulus and an invitation to enthusiasm, vitality and vivacity.

VIVA: the local
The color enters bullying in the room. With the luminous and iridescent installations of Artemis, which fade from one color to another. With the play of light on the square and with the work of Marco Nereo Rotelli, a large panel composed of small works (20×20 cm) representing glyphs, pictograms, mysterious and magical symbols in a thousand shades of blue. With the small Murano glass vases, designed by Viviana with the designer Gaia Rotelli, which look like cobblestones gathered where the rainbow ends. With the intimate, cozy sitting area where you can sip a botanical cocktail created by the bartender Jessica Rocchi or a bio herbal tea selected by Roberto Merluzzi of The Art of Receiving.

VIVA: the menu
Art, light and design are the setting for a kitchen that is rich in inspiration and imagination but sets its feet firmly in the earth. The most striking example is the 7 variations of the vegetable garden, a signature dish that varies with the seasons and what Viviana collects (actually zero kilometers) in the greenhouses at South Agricultural Park.
The choice of plants is increasingly the signature of the chef, who remains faithful to his other great love, the sea. Dishes like Black and white, cauliflower and caviar panna cotta, or the Superspaghettino, in smoked broth with clams, calamari, tarallo and lemon, are destined to become timeless classics.

Viviana looks ahead, but with great respect for the past. It opens up to contamination without forgetting tradition and concreteness. Above all, he marries a philosophy of sharing and inclusion that is well represented in his staff: always looking for new talents, to the historical sous chefs Ida Brenna is Matteo Carnaghi, in brigade with a dynamic and multi-ethnic team, young but already super-professional faces were added to the room: the maître Luis Diaz is Gianluca De Marco and the sommelier Federica Radice, which is entrusted with the rich cellar that can count on sought after French labels, rare vintages, exclusive Marsala (including that of De Bartoli customized for VIVA).

"Viva is made up of people who are the vital energy of my restaurant", emphasizes the chef, who does not forget the importance of a return to authentic food and the culture of taste.

Concepts certainly shared by his partner and friend, the Indian cook Ritu Dalmia, present in the Alicette company (owner of the sign) together with the entrepreneur Analjit Singh.

Viviana's philosophy is the same that animates the international gastronomic scene with new excitement, as demonstrated by i thirty colleagues arrived from all over to hold the new venture, cooking their dishes during the magnificent inauguration party. Where, between a toast and a taste, "VIVA!" it was more than an exclamation.

As Viviana's manifesto says, a modern hymn to joy: "The flame burns. It is wonder and color. It is an idea and a feeling. The joy of creating and the hunger to do. To look like I prefer being. Bold, special, rebellious. enthusiastic, real. Being.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
September 2019
Photos Sonia Marin, Serena Serrani and Francesca Brambilla