Qualitaly_123

JUN. JUL. 2021 X Fundamental, I would say. Ethics in the choice of ingredients to be served, ethics in the right price to be charged to the customer... having a nearby vegetable garden certainly means waiting for the land to provide us with the basis from which to create a dish. But behind those ingredients, which are completely organic, there is a lot of work, dedicated staff, and care that translates into a product cost that is much higher than what the large-scale retail trade could offer us. However, you can’t expect that cost from the customer, so the price - for example - of our tasting menu is 40 euros, where the margins for us are minimal. But that’s as it should be! You talked about a certification for ethical restaurants. A sort of Michelin star, but not for the classic standards for which you are awarded this seal, but precisely for the concept of sustainability. Do you think this is really feasible? In America there is already something similar. I think that in the future we too will arrive at this type of certification. The theme of sustainability, respect for the ecosystem... these are issues that have become even more pressing with the pandemic. Today everyone is realising that nature is not to be trifled with, that it must be respected, and so the concept of ethics is becoming increasingly central. The recent pandemic has probably laid the foundations for an epoch- making change in the restaurant industry as well. How do you see the future of this sector? I think that the restaurant industry cannot ignore this ‘ideological transformation’, whereby the choice of ingredients will become increasingly central in the future; the patron will choose the restaurant where to eat by analysing several factors, and ethics will be predominant. Tell us about the suppliers. How do you select them? They’re more than suppliers, I have friends with whom I have established a relationship of mutual esteem and trust. It goes without saying that the choice has obviously fallen on suppliers who share my work ethic. How did you experience the healthcare emergency? Now that you have reopened, has anything changed in the approach to work? In the meantime, the garden never stopped, so I continued to look after it. I experimented a lot and I also rested a bit, which I needed. Once we reopened, we had to change the space a little and create three separate rooms. This meant that we needed an extra unit in the staff. Also tell us about your collaborators. How many people work with you and how have you organised yourself during closures? There are now 12 staff for 40 covers. I think that ratio gives a lot of insight into my approach. During the forced closures, I used the redundancy fund, also because we closed the business completely and didn’t do delivery. Why did you choose not to do it? It doesn’t pay to deliver in this area because we’re in a small hamlet where the service has no or very little demand. The larger towns are a long way away, so I couldn’t have guaranteed the quality of the dishes since there is a lot of transport involved in terms of delivery times. I think that many of my colleagues in other areas have tried, but with little profit if we think of the cost of staff, ingredients, etc. etc. etc... Beyond your own restaurant, how do you think we can get out of the crisis in big cities where with smart working, which has become the new way of working, many restaurants are suffering. What would you suggest to them? I believe we should focus on the rediscovery of the human relationship in contrast to the technology that has made this work very sterile (see the apps for ordering food at home). Once the lockdown was lifted, public establishments proved to be an indispensable place for consumers, not because people couldn’t eat certain dishes anyway, but because a restaurant is an experience, a social experience, a conviviality... Nowadays customers are looking for emotions. And we must be ready to give them that! ______________________________ BOX Recipe Survival cuisine recipes: aquasale It was one of the most common dishes of our grandparents. Its real purpose was to use up the leftover bread from the previous days. Ingredients for 4 people ! " Procedure In the bottom of a high-sided serving dish, wash and squeeze about ten cherry tomatoes (cherry tomatoes which, in Apulia, are hung on a string after being picked). Season with a MAGAZINE