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September/October 2023 V MAGAZINE dishes. “This can be a difficult step for a restaurateur,” she says, “because it might force him to revise certain beliefs, such as that of having to “do everything in house”. On the other hand, outsourcing some of the production phases, such as those of lesser value, to specialised third parties can optimise the management of the kitchen, with an economic advantage as well”. An example would be vegetables. “Many restaurateurs,” says Vanetti, “continue to prefer buying fresh, without considering that it has to be peeled, washed thoroughly, cut and stored until the moment of service... and that what is not used immediately is often thrown away. This is not the case if one buys ready-to- use vegetables, prepared in specialised processing centres that perform all the preliminary steps and deliver the product preserved in a modified atmosphere. It is true that the mere cost per kilo of this product is normally higher than in bulk, but important cost items such as personnel costs, which can be usefully allocated to higher value operations, are eliminated. In addition, one must not forget that hygiene and safety risks for the operators (increased chances of them cutting themselves) also affect the costs”. Another aspect that may need to be evaluated in order to make the menu more profitable is to adopt new, more efficient and less energy consuming equipment and more advanced cooking and food preservation technologies. “The use of Roners for low-temperature cooking,” she emphasises, “vacuum or advanced preservation equipment may require an initial investment, but in the long run it pays off through better management of the kitchen activity, which also benefits energy efficiency and environmental friendliness”. In short, depending on one’s point of view, the engineering menu can be seen as the output of a perfectly organised kitchen or as the tool for critically analysing the state of affairs and improving certain aspects of it. “The offer,” concludes the consultant, “must be a system in equilibrium of which all the variables are well known. In this way, if one of the elements changes (e.g. the cost of an ingredient increases), you can intervene quickly, without creating a negative impact on your business’. THE IMPORTANCE OF DINING ROOM STAFF The waiter is one of the many touch points that the restaurateur has at his disposal to make contact with his customer. The waiter is in fact a salesman and has the task of guiding guests in choosing what to order, directing them towards the courses that are most profitable for the restaurateur, while still leaving a good impression. “For this reason,” explains Sara Vanetti, “it is not enough for waiters to have the technical skills, i.e. to know the dishes well and be able to explain them in detail to the guests, but they must also be trained in sales techniques and the development of consistent soft skills, which are so important in those who have contact with the public. And the latter are much more complex to learn than the former”. AT PAGE 24 CHEF’S FACES CHEF Domenico Candela Journey into memory, memory of a journey by Gianluca Donadini Domenico Candela , 37 years old and from Marano, has been the executive chef of the George, a starred restaurant at the Grand Hotel Parker’s in Naples, since 2018. Candela’s curriculum reveals an education entrusted to noble Italian masters - Guida , Nigro , Bartolini - and a long stay beyond the Alps at the court of Alain Solivérès and Yannick Alléno. And from this long osmotic relationship with France, emerges a hand capable of solid and elegant technique, the studied use of sauces and the use of butter, the iron discipline of governing the brigade without forgetting that a good Neapolitan must make room for the heart when needed. We discover this in Naples, one evening in June. We are on the Chiaia hill overlooking the Gulf, on the top floor of the historic Art Nouveau building at Corso Vittorio Emanuele 135 owned by the Avallone family where the Parker’s Grand Hotel is located. A light breeze cools the restaurant terrace. Naples, (un)veiled, is a silent city that from up above captivates ith its stillness. WHO IS DOMENICO CANDELA? A guy from Marano who started out, as they all do in Naples, as a waiter and dishwasher in pizzerias/restaurants at weekends. From Sire, a Neapolitan catering name, I moved on to catering events and weddings. My first time away from Campania was when I had just come of age. Then I went to Milan to work with Emilio Coppola at the restaurant of the Hotel Nhow in Via Tortona. AT THE AGE OF NINETEEN, YOU JOINED THE BRIGADE OF A LARGE HOTEL, THE QUISISANA IN CAPRI. With Stefano Mazzone, I first came into contact with haute cuisine, the discreet charm of grand hotels and became increasingly passionate about the world of fine dining. FROM CAPRI TO ITALY: CHEFS ARE ARTISTS ALWAYS ON THE MOVE I’ve never been lazy, and I started to journey through Italy, working in the kitchens of Antonio Guida (Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole), Damiano Nigro (Relais Villa D’Amelia in Benevello), and Enrico Bartolini (Devero in Cavenago Brianza). ALL CHEFS WITH A DISTINCTLY FRENCH STYLE OF COOKING. France was a natural landing place in light of my masters. I worked for two years with Alain Solivérès at Le Taillevent, 2 Michelin stars, and with Yannick Alléno at Pavillon Ledoyen, 3 Michelin stars. From Solivérès I learnt the basics, the techniques, the express cooking, the use of the bases. Classic technique is fundamental in the training of a cook. TO LEARN TO READ AND WRITE, ONE MUST START WITH THE ALPHABET... The same applies in the kitchen. Bases, cooking, sauces, cuts, ingredients. It is essential for a cook to know the culinary alphabet in order to write, read well and be understood. WHAT DID THE EXPERIENCE WITH ALLÉNO GIVE YOU? Yannick makes a more modern and lighter cuisine than Solivérès. He uses concentrates, extracts and fermentation. He uses less butter. I don’t use fermentations much, but I have made as my own the use of sauces and the ability to make them lighter than tradition while maintaining the same intensity of flavour. Extraction, cryo-concentration and cold assimilation make a qualitative difference. THEN THE RETURN TO NAPLES. HOW DID YOU GET TO PARKER’S GRAND HOTEL? I was called by the Avallone family, who aspired to obtain a Michelin star for the restaurant in their hotel. I arrived in February 2018; we opened in June that year. The star