Qualitaly_111

JUN. JUL. 2019 X so wide that every cook has the opportunity to create his own personalized environment, just like a tailored cut according to his needs. Do you value the ingredients and ancient recipes of the territory or do you focus on ‘exotic’ dishes? Parma is the UNESCO world capital of gastronomy and the nerve centre of the Food Valley, not to mention that it will be the 2020 Italian capital of culture. We cannot fail to offer a wide selection of dishes related to our territory, succeeding in distinguishing ourselves even in such a predictable and inflated choice. We propose cuts of meat and preparations that have long left the menus of restaurants, let’s say almost impossible to find. It is exciting and touching to hear customers thanking for having resurfaced in them memories of old cuisine, of grandmothers and mothers in the kitchen, of forgotten flavours. We are proud to provoke emotions with a dish. How do you react to customers who ask for the doggy-bag, being you also owners of a cuisine? Great. It is a civil habit not to throw away food that is not consumed, our doggy bags are packaged with the utmost care, as precious gift packs from our shop. In a restaurant, in addition to a well-prepared entrepreneur, is a top chef also needed or at least a testimonial? The recipes are many and different, we have focused on the team rather than on the customisation and identification of the restaurant with a testimonial. Our vision is that the restaurant must be... everything. Obviously, you cannot ignore the kitchen but for us the restaurant means welcome, environment and smiles. Making people feel welcome and comfortable. What do you think of food as a show? Good but not great. O tempora, o mores (Latin for Oh, the times! Oh, the customs). Personally, I find that there is an overexposure and a spectacularising that risks losing sight of the commitment, research, passion and experience gained behind the preparation of food. So much so that my colleagues and teachers at hotelier institutes tell me that never before have there been so many applications to enrol in cooking courses, with the result of as many disappointing defections as soon as the contact with the real world of work takes place. You have a great passion for photography. How does it influence the menu? Rather than influencing the menu, photography is propaedeutic in the creation of new colour combinations, choice of forms and styles that will compose a dish. Does aesthetics count for a lot in a dish? The graphic and scenic composition of a dish, the combination of colours, the distribution and the search for balance within the dish, are choices closely related to the rules that govern the photography. Having studied it makes it easier for me to make aesthetic decisions that I have always found to be very important. And aesthetics must keep up with the times: it has been updated, it is less opulent and sumptuous than in the past; however, it plays a fundamental role among the pleasures of being at the table. I find it nice, and I have a personal sense of satisfaction, to see customers photographing my dishes with a smug air. I love to amaze them by avoiding the obvious. The restaurant must be a place to spend time in a pleasant way ... You cannot ignore eating well but, in addition to that, it is important where you are and how you are welcomed. We thought of Alfione as a place to host friends, not with the classic canons of catering but informal and furnished to our taste, with objects beloved to us, to be shared therefore with our friends. How did you get to work with Salso Carni? I have a longstanding relationship with Salso Carni, our largest supplier, which has accompanied me for years in all the kitchens I have worked. Moreover, it is located in Salsomaggiore Terme, where I attended the hotelier institute and where I took my first steps in the kitchens of big spa hotels. Are there any C.I.C. products that help you during your workflow? Absolutely. Apart from rice, dried fruit, oils... I use a series of products that I call semi-finished products that allow me to concentrate more time on the creative aspects of a recipe with a saving of time and work. Materials and new technologies count, they are pieces of a puzzle, each piece is essential to achieve the result. Does the Alfione project completely absorb your time? Yes, but the results we are obtaining give us the drive to continue. My priority is to continue along this path and, at the same time, to train young assistants and transfer my knowledge of both cooking and management to them. For the future, when I have a little more time, I have a project that will combine food and photography. But I don’t want to reveal what it is now. The fashion for “free-of restaurants” (gluten, meat, flavourings) took off? What do you think? Allergies and intolerances seem to be on the increase among the population. It is right that everyone should have the opportunity to eat out with serenity. As far as personal choices of healthier eating styles are concerned, the opening of new themed restaurants could be an opportunity to train new professional figures with specific preparations. How much does an entrepreneur count and how much does a chef count in a restaurant? They can’t ignore each other, I don’t know who “weighs” more, but I can’t imagine a successful place with a bad entrepreneur and a great chef, and vice versa. How much did it matter in your case to have focused on a format like the combination of butcher’s MAGAZINE