QUALITALY

JUN. JUL. 2017

tourist flow: the cultural cities, the

seaside resorts, the mountain resorts

or the large metropolitan areas where

businessmen converge.

Do you think that the personal

food shopper can become a figure

like that of PR?

With different characteristics yes.

However, the richness of the P.F.S.

is the culture of the territory, the

constant update on events. PR has as

its main resource a large number of

contacts. Woe to confuse them!

AT PAGE 24

I like to think big

Matteo Righi, patron of the Malto a

Carpi (MO), tells us the secret of his

success

By Maria Elena Dipace

The Emilian cuisine has always been

recognized as one of the best and

most delicious in Italy. There are many

typical dishes that characterize the

region: from tortellini to tagliatelle,

from lasagne to passatelli in broth.

Then there are those specialities that

have not been completely adopted

throughout the country and are

difficult to replicate in areas other

than in Emilia.

This is the case of the gnocco fritto

(fried dumpling), a little more well-

known, and the tigelle. These are

mostly dishes that accompany cutting

boards of cheese and salami in a

user-friendly style, creating a fun

atmosphere that makes going out

even more pleasant. It is precisely

the gnocco and tigelle on which chef

Matteo Righi has concentrated, a

talented young man who in Piazzetta

Garibaldi of his Carpi opened the

eatery ‘Malto Gnocco&Tigelle’ a few

years ago.

Where did your adventure in the

world of catering start?

My adventure in catering began like

that of a lot of guys coming into this

world because they need to have

some money in their pockets for their

cravings... in my case it was a Fender

Stratocaster and I was 15 years old, I

worked for a company that organized

weddings. I was a waiter.

When did you realize you were

made for this job?

I realized that this would be my

future in 2010 when I still made ends

meet at the weekend working at the

pizzeria San Francesco di Carpi along

with my partner, and the owners

offered to pass the baton. Now the

pizzeria is ours.

Let’s get into the business. When was

your locale born? Tell us the story...

The restaurant Malto is located

50 meters from the pizzeria San

Francesco and was created from the

idea of bringing back to the square

in Carpi a tradition that was going

to be lost, that of the gnocco and the

tigelle, a traditional dish that is now

only found in the mountains, and that

we wanted to enhance in an evocative

way like that of Piazzetta Garibaldi.

You have focused on the Emilian

tradition but aiming on a locally

sourced product. Tell us about your

food...

Ours is a traditional cuisine and

to make it I have recovered my

grandmother’s cookbook. The locally

sourced discussion actually came

without looking for it. Even if we are

not certified, the fact is we only use

products from our area: the flours from

Molino Verri of Carpi, the salumi from

Carpi, the beers from Rubiera, Modena

and Parma, the Lambruschos of course

are all from the area, and the fresh

pasta we take from a pasta maker in

Rio Saliceto.

What is the most requested dish by

your aficionados?

Obviously gnocco and tigelle. I think

the success of Malto is attributable to

the simplicity of the recipes and to

the conviviality that this type of menu

expresses, where one picks from cutting

boards of meats and bags of gnocco and

tigelle. Malto is a modern eatery with an

affordable price for everyone.

What is your winning card?

The winning card I think is the

location, being able to eat in the

Piazzetta at ‘honest’ prices is really

exciting. I play a lot on team work.

Tell us about the team...

Working in catering means living in a

second family. You really spend a lot

of hours together, you have lunch and

dinner together, you need to be close

and we count a lot on being united. We

try, every day...

You’re all very young. How did you

select the staff?

The staff I chose young because,

however sometimes they may be a little

immature, youngsters have an extra

gear and one always feels good being

in the middle of them, the atmosphere

they create, without knowing it, is

magical. Then I take care of their

training...

Is it difficult to find qualified

personnel who want to make

sacrifices?

I have to say that in reality there

are many youngsters who want to

work. I find a lot more sense of

responsibility in this generation

than there was once upon a time.

When I started I was the youngest in

the midst of fathers and mothers of

families. Today, catering is done by

the youngsters, the future lawyers,

doctors, physicians...

Do you personally take care of

supplies? Who are your suppliers

and how do you select products?

I have a great trusting relationship

with my suppliers. For example

Mineral Carpi that have followed me,

always helping and advising me, or

Ristogamma, to mention another.

Together with them we find the perfect

combination to have a quality product

at the right price.

What is your client target?

It’s wide: we go from the 20 year olds

at the weekend, to the 30-40 year

olds on Friday night, the families on

Sundays for lunch, and during the

week many people from work. I would

say that everyone likes gnocco and

tigelle...

What do you think of the chef

phenomenon on TV? Would you like

to approach that world?

The world of chefs on TV has brought

people closer to the quality of the

products they eat, this has made the

clientele more attentive. I think it’s a

good opportunity for us to see what

we can do in a catering industry that

has been resting on its laurels for too

long. Now we need to get busy. I have

MAGAZINE