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June/July 202 2 VI MAGAZINE AT PAGE 22 CHEF’S FACES Paolo Marigliano: the ethical choice FROM SELECTING INGREDIENTS AND SUPPLIERS TO WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: THE CHEF EXPLAINS WHAT IT MEANS TO DO QUALITY CATERING IN A B CORP PRO- JECT IN THE CENTRE OF ROME by Anna Muzio A career spent in restaurants and hotels in tourist resorts, overlooking the blue sea of the Amalfi Coast or in the centre of the Eternal City. Then Covid came along and perhaps the desire to do something new that many others tried. Instead of retiring to the countryside or a Greek island, however, Paolo Marigliano , a Neapolitan chef, decided to join a very special project: that of Etico Food, the restaurant of Etico Hotel. A Roman non-profit entity created in 2018 with the aim of giving work opportunities and social inclusion to people with disabilities, who work alongside catering professionals. TELL US HOW YOU GOT INTO CATERING. It was not a classical path. I’m from Naples, I was studying at the Nautical Institute to become a long-distance captain, in the meantime I worked at the restaurant in the evenings to earn some money and that’s how I got into this world. I graduated but in the end my love for cooking prevailed. I started as a dishwasher, became a batch cook, always in the same restaurant with traditional Neapolitan cuisine. We did 100 covers at lunch and 200 at dinner. From there I moved on to manage the kitchen of a romantic hotel in Maratea, overlooking the sea: a completely different type of restaurant, in the evening we dined by candlelight under the carob trees, 30 covers and nouvelle cuisine. For love, I moved to Rome, to the restaurant of a four-star hotel on Via Palestro, the Pavone. I stayed 17 years and then moved to a hotel on the same property, where I worked until last December. HOW DID YOU MEET ETICO HOTEL? I started working with them in May last year; they needed a manager not only for the kitchen, here we do a rather special job: in addition to running the restaurant we train young people with disabilities. In short, it’s double the work but I do it much more happily, I go home in the evening with a smile on my face. WHAT CONVINCED YOU TO EMBRACE THE PROJECT? I started to get to know the guys and I became fond of them. It takes passion to do this job, being a cook is already a special job, you work long hours, cold and hot, in the kitchen from morning to night, plus you really have to look after these guys, there must be fifteen or so who rotate between the dining room and the kitchen, they all need help and we are there for them. Where I was before, I was fine: it was a choice of love, in the end I earn less but I’m happier, it’s fine like that. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR KITCHEN? Traditional, although over the years I have had to innovate, there has been nouvelle cuisine, gourmet. Here we offer Mediterranean cuisine, we pay a lot of attention to zero-km products, processed by companies that use a certain type of personnel, prisoners, people with disabilities or in difficulty, many organic products from ethical farms. Our project also includes these elements. MUST-HAVE INGREDIENTS IN YOUR KITCHEN? Seasonal vegetables, fish and fruit for desserts. WHAT DO YOU BUY FROM FORMASAL? Sixty per cent of the products, I have been working with them for twenty years, they have their own Italian brand and various zero-km products. Almost all the dispensary, flour, sugar, peeled tomatoes, even the mozzarella, some very good buffalo butter, fresh cream and also meat, Scottona for example. WHAT DOES WORKING WITH THESE GUYS GIVE YOU? You experience unique emotions. When I started working I read up on the various pathologies because I knew little about them. It takes them a little longer but when