QUALITALY

JUN. JUL. 2017

MAGAZINE

cook owes his survival not so much

to the bills paid by his customers

but to parallel activities: conducting

television, external consultancy,

conventions, events, blogs,

advertisements, books. Of course, the

famous chefs have more “market”, but

also the middle-level restaurateurs

have some chance of exploiting their

skills to the maximum.

MATTER OF COST

A restaurant has very high costs:

having enough trained staff to satisfy

an increasingly demanding clientele,

taxes which eat a good part of the

revenues, the food-cost on which you

can save up to a certain point, the

cellar which is an often neglected

but burdensome item, the furniture,

the laundry, sometimes the rent of

the premises; they all add to absorb

almost all the profits. So more and

more often a name becomes a sort

of showroom that serves to gain the

attention of the guides, to give fame

to the chef who can exploit it in side

activities. Simple and effective. We

take the case of Heinz Beck, the

three-starred chef of the Pergola del

Rome Cavalieri in Rome. At present

his activities, besides the one that

gives him the most prestige, are: chef

of a restaurant in Tokyo (Heinz Beck

& Senses), of two clubs in Dubai (the

casual Taste of Italy restaurant, which

is also shop; and the Social), of one

in the Algarve, in Portugal (Taste).

Then he has a hand in the Cafè Les

Paillotes in Pescara and in the Castello

di Fighine in southern Tuscany, he’s

about to open a restaurant at the

airport of Fiumicino, Moments, for

which he demanded a kitchen as

large as that of the Pergola, he has

a partnership with Mercedes Benz,

a collaboration with the DeCecco

for the production of sauces, and

another with the Lazio wines of

Omina Romana. And then there are

the parties, the appearances, the

books (Beck has written eight). A

hyperactivity that of course

is a little suspicious. “Heinz does a little

too many things – confesses a star-

studded colleague who wants to remain

anonymous – and when you put the

name on too many restaurants you can’t

keep track of them too well. In fact,

sometimes an activity does not go well.”

BETWEEN CONSULTANCY

AND EVENTS

So let’s have a look at these extra

activities. First of all, there are the

consultations. There are those from

real stars, when a famous chef who

already has his own restaurant takes

charge of another name, where he can

not be physically present, if only for

short periods. He will then limit itself

to setting the menu, usually working

on a simplified proposal compared to

that of the first restaurant, and prepare

the team, at the head of which puts

he puts his own leader. Every now

and then he makes an appearance,

every so often a visit to tighten up, if

necessary, and that’s it. A game which

is convenient to both parties. To the

chef, who cashes a cheque for a few

tens of thousands of Euros a year and

for the restaurant, which basks in

having a prestigious name. Then there

are the actual consultants, lesser-

known chefs who have specialized

in providing advice and support to

others. Francesco de Francesco on

his website

frachef.it

proposes for a

premises start-up (300 Euros net per

day), for marketing activity (300 Euros

per day), for monitoring in the kitchen

(observation of the restaurant’s activity

for one day to identify the criticalities,

always at 300 Euros net). Then

personalized cooking classes even for

amateurs and also on Skype at 20 or

30 Euros an hour. De Francesco is so

accustomed to cash-in on every slot

of his day that when we asked him to

answer some questions, he asked to be

paid. Maybe the next time. Then there

are the events. Chefs are often called

to cook for gastronomic festivals,