QUALITALY 138

Januar y/Februar y 2024 X MAGAZINE HOW DOES YOUR CUISINE FIT INTO SUCH A PRECISE STYLISTIC SIGNATURE AS BORGO PINTI? PL:- Each Four Seasons has a different soul thanks to the cuisine that differentiates them, while remaining in continuity of principles with the philosophy of the property. I have all the freedom to express myself and the cuisine of Il Palagio is my signature that emerges in the aesthetics of the Estate. WHAT REMAINS OF YOUR HOME CUISINE, FROM PARMA , IN A RESTAURANT LIKE IL PALAGIO? PL:- Ethics. I used to go to the fields with my grandmother to pick bitter leaf greens. Chickens were cared for and nothing was thrown away. I remember the recipe for stuffed neck: an art of recovery, nothing wasted. If we forget our history, not only do we risk no longer knowing who we are but also where we are going. I IMAGINE THAT AN INTERNATIONAL CLIENTELE ARRIVES IN FLORENCE WITH A STEREOTYPED IDEA OF OUR CUISINE. FEW WILL KNOW THE REAL TUSCAN COOKING. PL:- That is why we have a trattoria, which offers Tuscan dishes, and the Atrium Bar, which offers more familiar international cuisine to a cosmopolitan clientele. The club sandwich and the Caesar salad, so dear to Americans, can be found here. THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO FEEL AT HOME EVEN WHEN TRAVELLING. PL:- We are a hotel first and foremost. Service is the common thread running through all Four Seasons hotels around the world. It is the element that ties and binds our customers. After all, family is about ties. MMT:- The Four Seasons customer is loyal. People who have been to the Four Seasons in the past choose the Four Seasons if there is one of our hotels in town. The customer needs to recognise something, to find familiar elements wherever he goes. IS THERE A STYLISTIC FEATURE IN THE HOSPITALITY THAT IS CLEARLY RECOGNISABLE AND WITHIN WHICH THE CUSTOMER FEELS COMFORTABLE? MTT:- Trust, service, care, humanity and belonging are the key words on which the owner builds the idea of hospitality and by which makes you feel that enveloping warmth and the scent of home that you don’t feel in other charme hotels. Our team welcomes guests to the centre of our world with a distinctive touch of humanity. PL:- Happiness and satisfaction remain cornerstones. My kitchen has to understand with intelligence and the right delicacy what the customer wants. THERE IS ALWAYS A CULTURAL BARRIER TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. PL:- Especially with an international clientele that is an extraordinary breeding ground for cultural biodiversity. Florence is a particular market where the clientele has a very specific seasonality. At Christmas there are a lot of Italians: seafood, oysters and fish are popular. They don’t serve ribollita and pappa al pomodoro that they find at home or in the city’s osterias. In summer the clientele is more international, the Florentines, if they can, go to the seaside, and I have to offer more typical dishes on the menus. Our dishes of the day are usually Florentine and Tuscan dishes. THE CUSTOMER NEEDS TO BE EDUCATED. PL:- Customer education is the foundation. Often, however, we have no way or time to do it. So we can’t complain if Americans, who are used to eating Angus which is tender, send back Chianina which is a tasty but tougher meat. BY NOW, TENDER MEAT IS ALSO CONSIDERED QUALITY IN ITALY. PL:- Large-scale retail standardises taste and dictates preferences. Then we forget how things taste. BUT WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LARGE RETAILERS AND YOU STAR CHEFS? PL:- In summer I get up to 500 seatings and I have to have a very realistic approach in terms of sourcing ingredients. At Palagio, I can have small local suppliers who meet the needs of the few diners. The catch, for example, is all from local fishermen. After all, Florence is only a short hop from the sea. In the other outlets, the fillet can only be from large retailers. If, however, you want squid all year round outside the fishing season as at the Atrium, the compromise is to go for a quality frozen product. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A CHEF-OWNED MICHELIN-STARRED RESTAURANT AND ONE OWNED BY A HOTEL CHAIN? PL:- The customer is more curious. He wants to understand and rely on the chef’s proposal if the restaurant is chef-owned. In a starred restaurant in a hotel, the customer must always be listened to. If at the Palagio they asked me for a hamburger, or a spaghetti with tomato sauce, I would do it because the customer is always right even if conceptually it would be like going to a Valentino shop and asking for Replay jeans. WHAT IF THE CUSTOMER SAT AT A TABLE IN THE ATRIUM BAR? PL:- At the Atrium bar you eat relaxed. I don’t serve cerebral dishes that require a lot of attention. One has to enjoy what one wants. Every expectation must be fulfilled even by serving dishes that the customer seeks all year round and which don’t respect the cycle of the seasons. They pay a huge amount and therefore must be satisfied in everything. A CUISINE IN WHICH THE CUSTOMER CAN RECOGNISE HIMSELF MORE EASILY, IF WE WANTED TO PARAPHRASE TEJAL RAO, CRITIC OF THE NEW YORK TIMES: FEWER MIND-BOGGLING DISHES, FEWER ECCENTRIC AND UNUSUAL TROPHY DISHES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO PREPARE. PL:- A more disengaged experience, no attempt is made to surprise, rather to reassure.