It is sometimes called the G8 of international cuisine. On 23 and 24 June, close to the sea in Rimini, Massimo Bottura, chef of Osteria Francescana, will organise the fifth edition of 'Al Méni' an open air food festival where 12 chefs from Emilia Romagna and 12 up and coming international chefs join forces to serve top cuisine at 'street food' prices. Among others, there will be top Polish chef Adrian Klonowski, the Indian rising star Garima Arora or Tekuna Gachechiladze, the star of Georgian popular cuisine. 'Al Méni' is dialect in the region for hands and comes from the title of a poem by Tonino Guerra. Bottura came up with the idea for the festival 5 years ago. It is held under a circus tent inspired by the great Italian film director Federico Fellini in the square that is named after Fellini. It is aimed to be a celebration of the cuisine and produce of the region. The commune of Rimini turned the idea into an event. The chefs that are taking part come from all corners of … [Read more...]
Taking the doughnut to the next level: Niko Romito opens Bomba in Milan together with Autogrill
If Niko Romito has his way, he will revolutionise street food in Italy by turning the 'humble doughnut' or bomba as it is known in Italy into a protagonist of Italian street food. The chef of 3 Michelin star restaurant Reale in Castel di Sangro has opened a new 'fast food' concept in Milan together with Autogrill on 7 June. Called "Bomba" this is the first in a series of outlets that are set to open not just in Italy but also internationally. The 'bomba' is a doughnut that is being served in both a savoury and a sweet format at Bomba. Niko Romito has gone back to his father's roots. It was his father who made the 'bomba' at the pastry shop in Reale at Rivisondoli which made typical pastries from Abruzzo. His father turned that pastry shop and bakery into a trattoria before it was taken over by Niko and his sister who turned it into the best restaurant in Italy. In 2014, Niko launched the first 'Bomba' in Naples in a high-end supermarket. Here, they made not just the doughnuts … [Read more...]
Carbonara king Luciano Monosilio quits Roman restaurant Pipero
Luciano Monosilio, known for his legendary spaghetti carbonara which is considered to be one of the best if not the best in Rome announced on Facebook today that he has quit Pipero, a restaurant he has been chef of for the past eight years. The chef from Albano said these past eight years had been intense starting at Rex than moving to the new restaurant at Chiesa Nuova. "I have grown professionally and also personally but the cuisine at Pipero was becoming smaller and smaller for me. Many have asked me over the past years whether I felt the need to be independent as happened with many of my colleagues. I don't hide the fact that I had thought about it but it was not the right moment." "Today, is different. I thank the people who helped me in this journey and I leave the restaurant with a lot of experience which I can use in the forthcoming adventures." Alessandro Pipero, the owner and front of house announced that the decision was taken jointly. He said the new chef will be … [Read more...]
Applications open for Niko Romito year long cooking course
Niko Romito’s cooking school has opened the registrations for the next course which starts on 1 October 2018. The Professional Italian cuisine course of the Niko Romito academy is aimed to train future professionals in the restaurant world. It is aimed at those that have a diploma from a hotel school or those who are passionate and want to learn the principles and techniques of the Italian kitchen. The course lasts one year and is held at the Niko Romito academy, a cookery school that is annexed to Ristorante Reale and Casadonna, the three Michelin star restaurant and hotel of Cristiana and Niko Romito. The one year course, which ends in October 2019 allows students to study, practice and work throughout the year. Those taking part in the course will also be able to gain experience at one of Niko Romito’s Spazio restaurants which was created by the Italian chef to give his students real-life experience in a restaurant while enabling clients to learn about the chef’s cooking … [Read more...]
City of Gastronomy festival to be held in Parma in June
Parma has announced a series of events that will be taking place this year as Italy celebrates "Year of Italian food". The main event is the City of Gastronomy Festival, an event that aims to offer a 'taste experience' and express the creativity of the region. Temporary restaurants, show cooking by chefs from all over the world and a number of meetings and discussions will be held in the heart of Parma. The event takes place in the first weekend of June. It will showcase not just the produce of Parma and the region Emilia Romagna but also those of other Italian and international cities. The festival takes place on Saturday 2 June and Sunday 3 June. The festival aims to give a 360 degrees view of the world of food focusing on traditional produce and on made in Italy with the aim of sharing knowledge and flavours. A workshop for children and young people is going to be organised in collaboration with food museums and it will be linked to food preparation, its origin and … [Read more...]
Italian chef Niko Romito wants to change the way we eat in hospitals and canteens
Every one of us has a horrendous experience of ‘canteen’ food. Whether it was in a hospital, at school, in an airport or at the workplace, canteen food has the tendency to be not only unappealing and unappetising but also not healthy. Niko Romito, chef of the three Michelin star restaurant Reale at Casadonna in Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo, Italy believes this should not be the case. He believes the nutritional aspects of food are often forgotten even when it comes to simple things like vegetables and he has set himself the task of changing this with a project he has been working on with the University La Sapienza and the Group Giomi/Gioservice to tackle hospital food. The aim behind the project is to improve the nutritional aspect of the food while respecting budgetary considerations. It is a project that has the potential to be applied to any time of 'canteen' or large scale cooking. “A top down approach is more interesting than a bottom up approach,” Niko Romito believes. And … [Read more...]
Enrico Crippa’s right hand man Antonio Zaccardi is moving to Puglia after 12 years at Piazza Duomo
Antonio Zaccardo who has been working closely with Italian star chef Enrico Crippa for the past 12 years at one of the world's best restaurants Piazza Duomo announced yesterday that he would be heading to Puglia to the region where his wife was born. He will be joining chef Maria Cicorella at Pasha di Conversano, a Michelin star restaurant in Puglia. "It is time for me to change even if it is with sadness that I leave Piazza Duomo, Enrico, the territory and a family that I have loved (the Ceretto who are owners of the restaurant," he said in a note published on Piazza Duomo's Facebook page. Zaccardo was Enrico's right hand man and has worked closely with him for 12 years. "I joined him when I was 28 years. Carlo Cracco, who I had worked with for a few years, had told me about Enrico and his restaurant as the natural place for me to grow and gain experience." "During the past years in Alba, we have created many dishes and I have been able to learn so much by being in … [Read more...]
‘Simplicity comes from within. When you remove ingredients it has to be perfect’ – Niko Romito
When Niko Romito clinched a Michelin star for his restaurant Reale in Rivisondoli, a village of only 450 residents in Abruzzo, the people in the region believed it was a miracle. “After we earned that first star, they told us we would never achieve a second star because the place was too small.” The restaurant was born as a trattoria, you opened the door and the first thing you saw opposite the door was the toilet. Just over a year passed and when Niko and his sister clinched a second star in 2009 no one could believe it. At the time, they were the only starred restaurant in the whole of Abruzzo. “There were only 450 residents in the village, they were used to having a trattoria. We were very far from the cities, we did not know about guides or the press. We worked and even our neighbours thought we were mad. Because when they came, they did not like it and wanted something different.” Niko said. Mention Niko Romito today and people will tell you he is one of the most influential … [Read more...]
Niko Romito and his meticulous work with vegetables: “Every bite has to be different”
What makes a chef serve a floret of a cauliflower in a three Michelin star restaurant as a centre piece without any additions except for a touch of olive oil infused in garlic? It is the knowledge that what he is serving has the necessary complexity and flavour to shine in a three star restaurant. That is exactly what Niko Romito has been doing since he started focusing on vegetables as centre-pieces. Is it the sense that he has attained perfection with a dish, one where the sum of its parts is greater than the whole? To get an understanding of what is happening at Reale in Castel di Sangro, in Abruzzo, Italy you need to look at the chef's work with vegetables. Because it is here that the philosophy of the chef boils down to its essence. “I have been focusing on vegetables for the past three years. I started with the artichoke, then I worked with the cabbage and now the cauliflower. But I do not have an idea which vegetable I will be working with next,” the chef told Food and … [Read more...]
New Japanese contemporary cuisine in Milan with opening of Kanpai
A corner of contemporary Japan has opened in the heart of Milan. Named Kanpai, the new restaurant, designed by Milanese design studio Vudafieri-Saverino Partners proposes Izakaya rites and atmosphere accompanied by dishes from popular Japanese cuisine. Kanpai brings to Milan a mix of food, sake and Japanese culture but no sushi. It also has an oriental style cocktail list and is set to be a place to eat and drink late into the night. The aim of Kanpai is to recreate the post-work Tokyo evenings and the restaurant and bar could easily inhabit one of the Japanese metropolitcal city with installed screens which transmit pop images typical of today's technological and urban Japan. The restaurant and bar is only open in the evening from 7pm till late and the kitchen does not close before midnight. The project is the result of the passion for Japan of the three 28-, 32- and 33-year old Italian business partners who have brought together food, culture and sake with the idea of … [Read more...]