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menus for those who have specific
health needs and/or intolerances
while six restaurants out of ten are
able to respond to those consumers
who have special dietary needs.
“From the study - commented Lino
Enrico Stoppani, President of Fipe,
during a conference entitled “Nutrition
and Health: role and obligations of
catering” organised in the course
of Tuttofood - some significant
elements emerge. The first is the fact
that we eat more and more outside
the home: Today, 35% of household
food expenditure is directed at bars,
restaurants, pizzerias, ice-cream
parlours, pastry shops. This implies
for the restaurants the assumption of
a particular responsibility towards
their clientele to promote an ever
greater attention to the aspect of
well-being, taking into account new
food needs and intolerances. In this
respect, our synthesis highlights a
particularly positive perception of
bars and restaurants, which makes it
possible to understand how the world
of public establishments represents
for customers a kind of large family
where one can trust and appreciate the
quality.”
The opinion of the starred-chefs
In fact, starting with the high-profile
chefs until we get to the less sought
after catering concepts, we notice
a greater sensitivity to the needs of
the customer by the companies in
the sector, that translates itself into
lighter dishes (although awareness
of calories does not seem to be a
priority for those who sit at the table
of a restaurant), made with seasonal
products (84% of restaurateurs change
the menu every 4 months), designation
of origin, of proximity (90% point
to the short supply chains) and -
increasingly more often - organic. The
importance of catering to bring back
healthy dishes and educating healthier
consumption is, in fact, felt. “Due to
poor food education,” said Moreno
Cedroni, “children no longer eat
products like anchovies and mackerel,
because they have tiny bones.
Although we are just individuals we
can do something, for example use
organic products, return to traditional
grains for bread, propose correct
portions and reduce salt, oil and
condiments. In my thirty year career,
much has been done in this sense
and I try to convey these principles
to the young cooks and to those who
cook at home. But I see an explosion
of ready meals, at the expense of
domestic preparation.” “The intention
of my cooking – continued Davide
Oldani – is to give dignity to the less
appreciated ingredients and to find
a market for territorial products. The
onion, for example, is not just for
frying. I do not know if I believe in
locally-sourced products, but I believe
in the freshness of the products. And,
while sharing the need to recover
leftovers, I believe that in the kitchen
it is important to prevent them.” Carlo
Cracco also contributed to the debate,
emphasizing the importance of supply.
“Even if you work in the city and you
can’t have a vegetable garden next to
the restaurant – he said – you have
to tend to the supplies and respect
nature’s own timetable, if you want
to get really perfect dishes. It is also
a matter of culture: the youngsters in
the kitchen should be educated. For
example, the vegetable shouldn’t just
be weighed, but looked at, touched...
to see if the product is fresh or
not. Unfortunately, I find that this
aspect escapes young people: being
too concentrated on learning, they
have lost contact with the land.” For
Antonio Schiavelli, Unopena President
(National Union of Fruit and Vegetable
Producer Organisations), catering
could help to improve eating habits
of fruit and vegetables. “We must
promote – he said – an evaluation of
the product based on intrinsic quality
and not only aesthetics. In recent
years the choice has been reduced to
the detriment of differentiation, but
now we are realizing that a greater
supply basket is needed to increase
consumption.” And then you have to
contend with allergies, intolerances,
ethical regimes... “We are dealing with
these requests every day - concluded
Davide Oldani - for this I believe in
the importance of making available a
varied menu, which can offer a choice
for everyone: dishes without dairy,
without flour, entirely vegetable...”.
AT PAGE 22
The client? Brought
by the personal food
shopper
A new professional figure that
accompanies customers to the best
bars, restaurants and pizzerias in
town. Now the tourist guide focuses
on food and wine
By Maria Elena Dipace
No longer only a wedding planner,
no longer just a personal shopper,
now also a personal food shopper.
Namely: to guide the customer in
search of the ‘perfect’ restaurant.
There are those who believe it may be
the profession of the future, in an era
where there is so much to do, often
too much, and the time to do it is
always too little, in which the image,
passion and attention to detail play a
decisive role, in which taste, even that
for the most refined and sought-after
food and wine specialities, has now
bypassed the boundaries of fashion
to create a real lifestyle. Unlike
what happens in other countries,
where this new ‘tourist guide’ is
specialized exclusively in shopping
for clothing and fashion accessories,
regarding Italy and especially in
cities like Florence, Rome, Bologna
or Milan, we are in the presence of
a culturally more advanced tourist
demand wanting to live emotions
and experiences also through typical
products and flavours. We discuss it
with Alessandra Lepri, journalist and
communicator of the sector lifestyle
and food and wine, creator in 2010 of
the first course to become a personal
food shopper held in Bologna and
MAGAZINE
From the left the three chefs intervened: Moreno Cedroni, Carlo Cracco and Davide Oldani