ALL THE BEST OF 2020
RESTAURANT WITH THE BEST PASTA OFFER OF THE YEAR
BRAVE RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR
ACQUA PAZZA - Ponza (LT)
1
Raise when the going gets tougher. By focusing on the team (the family), the island and, above all, on ability and courage. Voilà Gino Pesce and Patrizia Ronca (his wife, a high-level pastry chef, and their daughter is a promising bar manager) win the challenge: this is the best pasta proposal. In the foreground the very delicate linguine with branzino.
UP-AND COMING CHEF
2
EMANUELE LECCE - LA TAVERNETTA Spezzano della Sila (CS)
CARMELO CHIARAMONTE
The choice to return, after 12 years as a wandering gastronome, to his homeland sheds light on his character and his courage that accepts even unlikely challenges, such as opening an osteria between the countryside and the sea a few days before the end of the first lockdown.
Born into the profession, Emanuele Lecce - in the kitchen given to him by his father Pietro - demonstrates mastery, determination and personality. The offer of this piece of Sila full of excellence down to the roots, certainly helps him, but mushrooms, truffles, tubers, podolica breed meats, vegetables and herbs, albeit of the highest order, would not give the same emotions transformed by a less happy hand. The Lecce family has been dedicated for decades to a type of restaurant that is now in danger of extinction, the one that distinguishes those who, instead of resting on their laurels for the fame achieved, demonstrate authenticity and audacity in a brand new and modern concept. And doing it without losing appeal and giving up substance.
3
IURI CHIOTTI
The courage to carry out his ideas with strength and determination, to interpret the mountains and the woods as the main ingredients of his work. Chiotti this year has become the standard-bearer of high mountain cuisine in Italy.
OVERABUSED PLATING SPHERICAL CUTS & SMALL GEOMETRIC COMPOSITIONS
states that tuna tastes better if matured for a month. Talk about freshness! This is echoed by the Spanish gastronomic critic José Carlos Capel who maintains: «a new frontier is opening up, which can mean and give a lot.» In Italy many chefs are working on this new challenge and we will soon tell you about them. In the meantime, trust us when we tell you that this was absolutely one of the trends of the year. Actually, the most obsessive.
GAMBERO ROSSO
ALBERTO GIPPONI
Born in 1980, former guitarist, sociologist, former social worker... five years ago he decided that his vocation has always been cooking. He trains in high-level places, including under Massimo Bottura. At Da Dina, in Gussago (BS), he learned to "coordinate the movement of his hands with his visions'' (paraphrasing an interview of a few years back). He caused a scandal by presenting a dessert made with mussels and burnt orange sauce. "But they're good," he explains. Why brave restaurateur of the year? Because Alberto was the first, last March, to understand that the situation was serious and that it was appropriate to stop. While most of his colleagues still pushed forward.
We've seen them all: sphere-shaped ingredients obtained with different techniques to geometric compositions using the elements of the dish modeled in small regular shapes. A sort of revival of Optical Art at the table.
39
DECEMBER 2020