Igles Corelli

Dear Docsconz, I think that any chef in the world should be grateful to Slow Food Movement for their defense of biodiversity and small producers. I don't know if it has affected my attitude towards cooking. I guess it has. I know Petrini since ever. I was present at TerraMadre conference in Turin in 2004 and I was next to him when he declared "Next year we'll have here all the chefs from all over the world". He smiled when I told him: "One is here already" The best chef in the world would be nothing without good ingredients. In your signature you quote a sentence of Ferran Adria that could as well be mine. I subscribe it 100%. Let me also add that many chefs in Italy have done a lot to support small producers of high quality food, using them in their kitchens, quoting them in the menus, promoting them among customers, sometimes even selling them in their restaurants. Small producers can't afford the traditional distribution. They risk the extintion, also because our institutions are not doing much to protect our peculiarities within the EEC regulations. A good restaurant, or a network of restaurants, needs small quantities and can afford to pay a higher price for quality food. Italy is so rich of typical products and it would be impossible to know many of them without Slow Food. Now they are introducing in a larger community and this is great. The second part of your question is a bit more complicated. Actually Slow Food concept may appear more concerned with past traditions rather than with avant-gard or creative cookery. Restaurants quoted in their guides are usually simple "osterie" or "trattorie" where the menu reflects the local traditions and general setting avoids luxury. My opinion on this respect is that creativity can be expressed also through simplicity and that tradition in cooking is the slow response to social and cultural changes. I could say that tradition is not a still picture but a movie played in slow motion. If avant-garde means industry, than Slow Food is not compatible at all. But the movement created by Petrini is promoting a revolutionary idea with a very long historical background. The concept that the Earth is a unique and quite small country, where different people with same rights live, is probably 2000 years old, maybe more. Besides humans, there are other living organisms that deserve care and respect, also in our interest. This is avant-garde today. Igles

Dear Linda, I think that I have implicitly answered also to your question with my reply to Francesco. In some way you are right, "home food", when prepared in a proper way, is already at un "upper" level. But, during your trip in Italy, be careful when you choose your restaurant or your trattoria. Not always what claims to be homely is necessarily true and genuine and, on the other hand, don't feel upset or betrayed if what you eat doesn't resemble to what is defined typical Italian in the States. Tradition is dynamic and keeps moving ... Igles

Hundreds of times! But I'm not related neither to the Captain nor to the musician, Arcangelo Corelli. Concerning my style ... I think that for me " creative cuisine based on territorial ingredients" represents a phase of my evolution. I started to work, let's say almost professionally, in a kitchen when I was about 14 (my parents owned a small "trattoria", but I became more "serious" when I finished the school and I was finally payed for the job. I was 18. It means we were around 1973. Nouvelle cuisine was about to flood from France to Italy. When it struck me, I was just a little bit older ... but I was still a young and un-experienced human being who was discovering that cooking was not only a job, but also a thrilling expressive means. I dealt with nouvelle cuisine as young people may do: with excitement. Every pore of my skin was spilling with creative ideas. Nothing was "strange" enough! Soon I realized that the more extreme your goals are, the most perfect techniques must be. And basis are also as important. Ezio Santin, owner and chef of Osteria del Ponte became a chef late in his life. His story is once more a tale of passion and of how passion can change a life. Being adult, his approach to professional cooking has been "mature". In those year France was leading the game. France had THE Book of National Recipes, French chefs where the professionels, the had experience and knowledge about techniques, they started the Nouvelle cuisine revolution. In Italy "trattorie" were serving good 2home-style" food and restaurants were serving international cuisine, hotel-style (which means French -style). But a few chefs in France where changing the rules. I think it was a natural consequence that someone like Ezio Santin, who couldn't afford to spend much time to find his own way with years of attempts, has studied and referred to the "best available" on the scene. So indeed his cuisine has the French flair, but the one of the "new French style". I can't say that I followed a specific model. I was too frantic to stick on one idea. But if I have to choose one I'd say Cantarelli. Probably scarcely known abroad now, because with his restaurant didn't survive his death, he was the most revolutionary of all tradiotionalists. Few traditional recipes, always the same, prepared by his wife in a way beyond perfection. The place, half drugstore, half trattoria or restaurant (impossible to classify it), was the strangest combination of contrasts. He had rare and expensive French wines (in Italy wine in restaurants was offered as "black" or "white"), served in fine crystal glasses, brought to the table with "Coca-cola" tin trays. Ligabue painting hanging on the walls where next to the rack with the boxes of a popular dish-washing powder soap ... After him Marchesi, Santin, Paracucchi and, obviously the "great" French Maestros, like Paul Bocuse, the Troigros, Trama, Blanc ... My staff was a bunch of adolescents and we shared all kind of enthusiasm. Last year, when Trigabolo has been celebrated at Gambero Rosso-Città del Gusto in Rome, Stefano Bonilli has corrected the title of the front-page of his magazine, where we had been named as "the Beatles of Italian cuisine", introducing the brigade, ricomposed for the event, as, actually, "the Rolling Stones" of Italian cuisine ... because we had been more than trasgressive, indeed. After having jumped over the rules, or having turned them up-side-down, I started to reflect about my roots and I discovered that I enjoy dealing with flavours I'm familiar with. Before, my aim was surprise customers, shock them with rough contrasts, with unpredictable combinations of tastes, now I'm looking more for a inner comfort. Surprise, if there is any, must be searched deeper in what I cook, it's subtler. What has been an achievement for me, is a starting point for many other chefs, usually younger than me, who in some way have benefitted by the experience made by the eldest. The "famous" ones are an exclusive group, but many others are working with local, fresh, high quality ingredients. A few names in random order. Among the famous, a mixture of younger and older, I'd quote Melly Bianco (Ca' Peo, Leivi) and Paolo Masieri (Paolo e Barbara, Sanremo), both in Liguria. Angelo Troiani (Il Convivio, Rome), Grazia Soncini (La Capanna di Eraclio, Codigoro), not far from me, Aimo e Nadia Moroni (Aimo e Nadia, Milano), Gaetano Alia (La Locanda di Alia, Castrovillari), Ciccio Sultano (Duomo, Ragusa), Nino Graziano (Mulinazzo, Palermo), Antonella e Dora Ricci (Al Fornello da Ricci, Puglia), Lucio Pompili (Symposium, Cartoceto), Marco Cavallucci (La Frasca, Castrocaro). Among the less famous: Marco Passini (Rosso Agontano, Ancona), Marco Bistarelli (Il Postale, Umbria), Piero Zito (Antichi Sapori, Andria), Adriano Baldassarre (Il Tordo Matto, Zagarolo), Enrico Pezzotti (La Trota, Rivodutri) and Anna Dente (Osteria di San Cesario, San Cesareo) all in Lazio, Cristiano Andreini (Andreini, Alghero), Carmelo Chiaromonte (Il Cuciniere, Catania). There are many others, though. I'm as puzzled as you. Maybe it is because we are not good with marketing and communication. Igles I think I got what you mean for gourmand

Dear Francesco, first of all, a special "ciao" from Pia. She, who is the one with longer acquaintance with this Forum, regrets very much for not being present as often as she would like. Same goes for me ... although I'm a newbie as a participant, I've always enjoyed the depth of your discussions when Pia took some time to translate them for me. More than a busy schedule (which is also true), language is my problem! I need her, and she is also busy. But we'll do our best ... it's a promise! Melly and Franco Solari are very good friends for us. She is a superb chef, one of those able to perform tradition respectfully but with a contemporary approach. They both highlighted Ligurian cookery, which, to me, is one of the most "modern" of Italian regional cuisines, bringing its essentiality near to perfection. I wish I could taste their food more often! It's a pity that their restaurant is in some way neglected today by Italian critics ... Someone who still today prepares the pesto sauce with "mortaio e pestello", someone who cooks Rabbit with black olives and herbs as she does, or a place where you feel the warmth of a family as it is at Ca' Peo restaurant would deserve much more attention. Coming to your question: few haute-cuisine restaurants in Italy need not even a fortnight to get a reservation. During the week you may get your table easily, even without a reservation, especially during 2004, a very difficult year ... Apart from the economical crisis, that exploded after the introduction of the euro (but it is not only due to it, in my opinion), it seems true that (very) few Italians as well as (very) few foreigners are willing to accept "fancy" food in an Italian restaurant. If a dish looks refined, if it is "technical", if it is "essential", if it is different from what's "traditional" you risk to be labelled as a chef inspired by French or Japanese or Spanish cuisines. Why? ... I wish I had a clear answer! There are other posts on this Q&A related to this subject. 1st point: Definitely good ingredients are one of our plus. Good ingredients don't need much complexity (but let me tell that a bad chef can spoil the best ingredient! and also that it is more difficult to remove, rather than to add!). If someone is experienced enough to select good ingredients, can prepare a superb Italian dish, often even without cooking anything (just think of a simple Tomato and mozzarella salad with fresh basil leaves and one of the many fruity olive oils produced here!). 2nd point: Quoting Albiston signature by memory, who was probably quoting you, "Italy is a country with 55 millions of food experts ...". We pretend to be experts, but really few can claim the title. Mamma is the best chef in the world and most Italians are continuosly looking for the tastes of their infantry, using the dangerous "taste of memories" as a touchstone for comparisons ... similar to,or different from mamma's cooking, meaning good or bad! Unfortunately it is not always true that Italian home food is "good", particularly in recent times. But even in the past ... I risk to be boring, please forgive me for acting as a lecturer ... but the matter is really interesting. Since the beginning of our history, Italian cookery or, better, cookery practised in this land developed along two main lines. Ancient Romans are considered refined gourmets, which was true, but only for the rich ones. Poor people ate the simplest food, breads, cereal porridges, vegetables, small animals. Our economy has always been based on agricolture, until mid of the XX century, at least. Being "fixed", they had more time to develop cookery, compared to the nomad populations on Northern Europe, whose food was necessarily simpler, mainly based on roasted meat. The climate, the soil provided our ancestors with good ingredients, quite easily available: to harvest a fruit is easier than to hunt a wild animal ... The scene didn't change much during Middle Age and even during Renaissance. Rich and noble families were banqueting with complicated and often exotic food, poor people survived trying to trasform most of what nature was offering into edible stuff. Most women were working as hard as men, farming, harvesting, fishing ... so they were starting to cook the daily meal early in the morning. Pots with simple stews or soups were left abandoned, at the corner of the stove, where they simmered slowly for hours, until lunch- or dinner-time. This is the origin of many traditional recipes. The taste of different ingredients was blended together by long and slow cooking, sometimes sticking to the pot ... Hunger was heavy and I think that nobody ever complained for a burned flavour in the stew! It remained more or less so until last century. Noble families were replaced by rich bourgeois. The food prepared by "home chefs" was varied and quite refined, with a strong influence from French cuisine (it was Belle Epoque age and France was leading in many fields). As Nino Bergese wrote (he was the last chef of the last king): "It's difficult to feed people who don't need to be fed" (or something like that), meaning that you need a lot of creativity to satisfy people who is not starving. Therefore, in my opinion, both concepts of cuisine belong to Italy: simple, easy country food and complex, conceptual, even exotic haute-cuisine. Also considering that Romans conquered almost all of the world known at that time, without imposing their life-style or culture but, on the contrary, importing in Rome whatever habit they judged valuable and that afterwards we have been one of the most invaded countries in the world, and have accepted and "digested" whatever was good in other cultures ... So "haute-cuisine", or even "fusion" started in Italy about 20 centuries ago, but few people today are willing to aknowledge this fact. 3rd point: Being a country with a relatively recent background of misery, we still confuse quality with quantity. Being convinced that mamma is the best chef in the world, why should we waste our money for tiny bits of glossy food in top restaurants? Don't forget also our catholic background: if we suffer in this life we'll be happy afterwards ... pleasure is a sin, greed in one of the 7 Capital Sins ... Despite the huge amount of words I realize that I haven't given a firm answer. I try to get to the point: Yes, I agree that there are many preconceptions towards Italian cuisine, among Italians and among foreigners. I hope to have proven that they are not justified, but this is of no help because the evidence is that haute-cuisine restaurants in Italy are not as busy as their counterparts in other countries are. I don't fear that this will do great damages. Mad people always exist and win against all odds. Food and cooking is a matter of love and passion. And many will go on because of that. Italians show their better qualities when they have hard times. Not being "managerial" in this case can be positive. What can be done? Maybe the real problem doesn't rely in the style of cooking but in the style of service. Professional but warm, family-like service is more Italian than the nose-up attitude that many top restaurants consider "elegant". An icy yet technically perfect service doesn't apply to Italian character and keeps Italians and foreigners out of many restaurants. And we also should learn how to make proper calculations. It's possible that our top restaurants are cheaper that similar ones abroad, but they remain too expensive anyway for a standard Italian family. We, as owner or managers, should be more united and use all the power that we may have if we are together, to claim for some support from institutions. Because we are one of the leading activities for our economy! I'll try to be more concise with next answers!

Dear Alberto, I can't still believe that I'm here, chatting with the whole world! Really, thanks for this opportunity. My opinion about location of restaurants in Italy is that, usually, none of us has a "managerial" approach to the business. When it happens, as it is the case of La Pergola in Rome, or Craccopeck in Milano, the choice of investors was obviously directed to BIG CITIES and a well trained chef. When you open a restaurant in the countryside, in a small city, in "la provincia" it's just because you and your family live there. There are few exceptions to this rule: Gualtiero Marchesi has moved from Milano to Erbusco, but it was Moretti who opened the restaurant there, in Franciacorta, where one of his companies, Bellavista, is based and where, probably, he had some kind of roots and, for sure, some facilities. When Marchesi has recently opened a second restaurant (I don't know if by himself or through some supporters) he has chosen Rome. The same goes for Alfonso Iaccarino. Someone from his staff is running, under his name, the "Baby" in ... Rome. Moretti, always him, has invested in a relais in Tuscany countryside, asking Ducasse for consultancy, but Tuscany is a rich and peculiar countryside, with the highest concentration of foreigners, both visiting or resident. So if you start a restaurant business in "la provincia italiana" and you wish to be quickly successful, you need a hell of a lot of money and you need to start with fireworks. Beautiful location, highly professional staff, a great chef. Second option, the most common one in Italy, when you start you are not thinking of a "great" restaurant. You love and you are skilled in cooking (often simple home-cooking), there are family members able to support you, financially and, even more, with their work, possibly you or your family own a suitable building ... you start ... and your passion is so strong that you don't feel fatigue, even if you work 18 hours-a-day for 7 days-a-week. Nobody regrets if you invest all your money in the restaurant: simple table clothes slowly give place to richer fabrics, glasses become crystal-ware, table cutlery from stanless steel is replaced by silver plated items, the wine-list becomes wider, deeper ... This is the tale of most "great" restaurants in Italy, close to leave the forestage to the 2nd or 3rd generation. Most of them started their activity around the 70ies. Some of those that were acclaimed quite quickly at that time are still praised today probably because the main motivation was not success, but passion. Improvisation was replaced by professionality, conquered with time, labour, continuous commitment. Creative skills, knowledge about ingredients, care for everything haven't changed since the beginning ... and you end up becoming "Nadia Santini". You get the attention from the media and the new problem you have to add to the daily ones, is to keep your position. During the 70ies and the early 80ies it was easier to get the attention from the press, but far more difficult to keep your customers, once you decided to ride on a roller coaster rather than on a safe train. The landscape around "great-restaurants-to-be" was flat and void. Few Italians accepted or clapped the nouvelle cuisine revolution. On the other hand, there were few restaurants to compete with. I accepted the job at Pizzeria Il Trigabolo, because I was living in Argenta and I was tired by working on a cruise ship. I had a unique opportunity and wonderful experience there, for 13 years. The owner, Giacinto Rossetti, was crazier than a chef. Trigabolo was not run by a real family, but for 13 years we have been as a family. I resigned because I didn't agree with the policy of the new owner, who bought the restaurant after a sensational bankruptcy. At that time I had already met Pia and we both wished to stay together as much as possible. So, working together was a good option. Ostellato was probably chosen by the fate. Pia, who is from Genoa and was living in Milano (and had a brilliant career as marketing director) hated the idea of being "confined" in a small village. I had some good proposals, such as being the exec. chef for La Terrazza (Hotel Eden, in Rome) before Enrico Derflingher, or managing an Italian restaurant in a Beachcomber 5 stars hotel in Mauritius ... but, but, but ... I knew that I was going to loose my freedom. None of us, me and Pia, are used to accept "orders" from others. We preferred to be responsible of any decision, mistakes included. So when the mayor of the village offered us to rent the place, with a bit of support from their side, because they were investing in tourism, we decided to accept the challenge. It still is a difficult challenge every day, and probably I would have never done it without Pia. Customers may enjoy a break from city life, but have hundreds of easier options. If we had the money ... probably we may have chosen Milano or Rome or a nice and easy touristic place, like Portofino or Ischia or Positano or a rich and charming countryside like Toscana or Langhe in Piedmont. Costs for starting a restaurants are more or less the same everywhere, except for renting or buying an estate. In Ostellato we hadn't to pay the licence and a small part of the refurbishment. In addition to this, the advantage of not being in a city, for someone like me, is that you have a generous nature around you and I love to cook what is offered spontaneously. I think that "wild" is intriguing: wild fruits, wild herbs, wild animals ... It's late now ... iI will continue my replies tomorrow Igles

Dear A_Broad, my first answer is for you, since I understand that your deadline has almost expired. It's weird that I should contradict you about the quality of restaurants in Bologna ... The general opinion of Italian gourmets about restaurants and food in Bologna is that the city that for many many years (until the '70ies, more or less) was considered the homeland of good, tasty, generous food has lost its crown. The reasons claimed are substantially the lack of needs. The city seems to be crowded for most of the year by visitors (there are many important exhibitions at the local fair hall). Restaurants don't really need to fight to get customers, nor to keep them. In addition, traditional Bolognese cookery keeps its appeal. It's tasty, it's easy to be understood. People living in Bologna are, always generally speaking, quite "traditional", not too adventurous regarding food. "Value for money" is often related to quantity. Therefore there are few chefs and few restaurant owners willing to change (with research, with creativity, with care) what seems to be an easy trail. I love traditional Bologna cookery, because it's part of my DNA. I've been grown with pork meat, with Parmesan cheese, with "pasta" prepared with egg-dough, with the greasy softness (as someone else has highlighted here) of Emilia Romagna's tastes. So it's hard for me to say that quality of food in Bologna is not as it could be. Nevertheless, here are a couple of addresses in which I'm confident. First one is run by two friends of mine (Piero Pompili and the chef, Arnaldo Laghi). You need a car or a taxi to get there. It is not in Bologna city, although it's at about 500 mt. from the city borders or about 10 minutes from city center: OSTERIA DEL MINESTRAIO via Andrea Costa, 7 località Rastignano, Pianoro (BO) ph. 051 742017 closed on mondays They serve only pasta dishes. You may choose the tasting menu composed by a series of up to 10 different types of "primi piatti", some traditional, some creative, each offered at 3.50 euros. In addition there is a good selection of cheese, "salumi" and, for a sweet conclusion, tempting desserts. An interesting wine-list, a professional but not pretentious service and a warm environment, make it one of my favourite restaurants in Bologna. It is small (about 20 people) and it is usually fully booked. They have been awarded by Gambero Rosso Rstaurant Guide with the "Oscar qualità-prezzo", this year. Another very good address is: IL CAMBIO (next to Hotel Maxim) via Stalingrado, 150 Bologna ph. 051 328118 closed on Saturdays for lunch and Sundays (all day) Here the chef Massimo Poggi offers a creative approach to traditional cuisine. His "maestro" has been Gianni Angelini, who is now working in US. There I suggest to taste the creative side of the menu, because it's worthwhile (although they also offer traditional dishes such as "tortellini", "passatelli" or cappelletti"). Don't miss the "Zabaione ai crostacei con scampi, carciofi e foie gras", "Gnocchi al nero di seppia con vongole", and "Sorbetto ai frutti della passione". The Italian gastronomic press is keeping it's focus on him. Price (wine excluded) is about 50-55 euros. Of course you are welcomed in my own restaurant. We have opened today, after a short period of winter holidays, but I'm committed with a TV show shot in Rome, therefore I won't be back until Feb, 15th. Igles

HELLO HELLO!!! TO ALL OF YOU!. OK, here I am. I just spent the last 30 minutes (at least) reading, no ... that is untrue ... listening to my wife who was translating all questions. I'm flattered! So many, so intriguing ... it will take me a couple of days to go through the whole thread. Thank you, and please, let me thank Albiston for his invitation and for his warm-hearted introduction of myself and my professional experiences. That's it. My first post in this Forum is just to say: "Please, be patient, I'll reply to all questions ... it's just a matter of time. I'll be happy to start in this way a dialogue with so many people who share my passion for good food, a dialogue that hopefully will last beyond this Q&A" and, also: "I'm really honoured of being officially part of this community".