Qualitaly_123

JUN. JUL. 2021 VI MAGAZINE and technologies in the kitchen and dining room, and in staff management. “So many pieces to fit together and transmit to the brigade, everyone has to do their part. It’s a way of life that reveals itself even in small daily gestures, beyond the work. You have to be sensitive and a great observer. The three venues - the gourmet, the osteria and the garden bar - allow for synergies. “The processes and recipes change but the ingredients are the same, of the highest quality even for traditional dishes. There is a continuous exchange of ideas and preparations: if the finest cuts are used at the gourmet, the others are cooked for the osteria or the aperitif”. Plant-based cuisine is also conquering new, unsuspected areas. As New York’s three-star Eleven Madison Park has shown by surprisingly reopening with an entirely vegan menu. INNOVATION IN (FORMER) FAST FOOD Formats that have been successful in the name of fast, standardised food are also being innovated. Looking at health and hybridising styles. A few examples? The Neapolitan aloe vera pizza of Vurria, two restaurants in Milan opened by Fabrizio Margarita, a London-based entrepreneur. “Our country is the most beautiful country in the world, but from the point of view of catering there are great margins for growth: that’s why I invested in Milan at this time of restart and rebirth”. Aloe combined with type 1 flours and long leavening gives lightness and digestibility, without altering the taste. In Naples, Bros and Bun entrusts the humble hamburger to the creativity of a chef who grew up in Michelin- starred kitchens, Davide Loffredo, who transforms haute cuisine into sandwiches and meat dishes with a Central European flavour, not forgetting veggie dishes such as asparagus wasabi, Parmigiano di Vacche rosse mousse, frisè of escarole and carasau bread. Vegetable-based ‘meat’ is becoming more and more popular and is finding its way into restaurants: one of the supporters is Eugenio Roncoroni, whose new menu at Al Mercato Steaks & Burgers also features seasonal vegetables cooked on the grill and experiments with the Heura Foods vegetable burger. It is not just a question of ingredients, but of a change of pace and approach. As Matteo Ingaramo, Professor of Design at Milan Polytechnic, explains. “The concept of sustainability can push for greater quality and real value for the customer who will tend to penalise unethical and transparent systems. The circular economy will win, the transmission of a powerful message, driven by the very young. Today, for the hospitality sector to rediscover value and get back into the game, is a precious opportunity”. ______________________________ BOX Guess who I’m having for dinner tonight? The watchword: hybridise and contaminate. Not only in the kitchen, but also in the dining room, offering different experiences. One of these is mixology, which in most new openings has its own dedicated space, often with bartenders, even the famous, who create ad hoc proposals in pairing with the cuisine. The combination of catering and mixology has been established for years abroad, especially in the United States, but in Italy it has struggled to take off. Could this be one of the most interesting legacies of the pandemic? What is certain is that Covid has “put back on the market”, in addition to chefs and mixologists, many artists, musicians and performers who were deprived of the possibility of working. It is also thanks to the contribution of these new professionals that “hybrids” have been created between catering and artistic experience. This is the choice of Luce Experience, the Roman company entrusted to Giovanni Monaco: “We have radically renewed the food and beverage offer, starting with a menu with a pop soul and an intriguing cocktail list. But great space is also dedicated to entertainment, with high-level artistic content, such as contemporary art exhibitions”. All this is topped off by the restyling with curtains of light, cushions, carpets, tables and private areas that help create the right atmosphere. The Indaco restaurant at the Regina Isabella Resort in Ischia, headed by Pasquale Palamaro, relies on storytelling and the involvement of fellow chefs, writers and testimonies of the fish processing in the adjacent former tuna fishery. With the fil bleu of respect for the sea, the four-handed summer dinners will also feature life stories and cultural performances. ______________________________ AT PAGE 18 IN DEPTH 2021: it’s the summer of the dehors The cancellation of the Cosap and the need to revive the catering sector have led to the construction of terraces, covers and gazebos in towns everywhere, including tables and chairs that are not always arranged in a way that respects the road ph. AlessandroBarattelli