The glow was warm and inviting. The clang of pots and pans, the shuffle of feet, the gentle shower of flour as dough scratched the table and was kneaded into submission, the burble of the tomato sauce boiling on the stove, and the mumble of voices swapping stories amid it all – young Italian Francesco Torcasio found himself mesmerised as watched his mother and grandmother cook for the family. “I kept wanting to try helping with the preparation and everything, but they would keep refusing,” says the recently appointed executive chef of Chic Nonna, DIFC.
“It was like a big secret that I wanted to know. Especially when I tasted the food, I wanted to know how they did it,” he laughs.
Not one to ignore his curiosity, by 15 the Calabria-born Francesco was working at a local pastry shop, learning about precise measurements and the science of creating treats from scratch. He went on to work in kitchens across the country, exploring delicacies from different regions, cultivating a skill that would work greatly in his favour when he made his move to the UAE in 2017. It was here that he joined the Il Borro Tuscan Bistro’s foundational team as a commis at 18. By 21, he had worked his way to senior chef de partie. And in 2021, he helped the brand expand to London.
Two years ago, he returned to Dubai as the head chef of Chic Nonna, which pays homage to Italy and the nonnas (or grandmothers) who truly perfected the cuisine. This is where his vision found expression; he is currently known for making the traditional unconventional through the subtle use of flavours and the expert use of technique.
Take, for example, the spaghetti all’assassina – a dish traced to the Puglia region in Italy – that is almost burnt to perfection. “Basically, the spaghetti doesn’t go in the water,” explains Francesco. It’s made using leftover pasta that is directly put in a pan with garlic, chilli, spic-es, and tomato sauce until it’s a bit charred and superbly crunchy. To contemporise the dish, Francesco added burrata to it. “For someone who is not Italian, this may be a little difficult to navigate, because the dish is spicy. But by adding the burrata, I balanced the flavours,” he says. It was a calculated addition to the restaurant’s offerings because in the UAE, he ex-plains, people like the Arrabbiata sauce. Which is similar, if not as concentrated. “Adding burrata was like taking two things locals loved and putting them together.”
Another interesting addition is the risotto Milanese, which is made by slow cooking veal shank. “I added locally produced saffron (from Sharjah) to this dish. The colour is perfect, the risotto is very balanced and has a nice taste,” he says.
His efforts have won him plenty of fans – and Chic Nona a Golden Lion at the Venice Festival, for its role in preserving and exporting Italian culinary heritage. And the brand is all set to reach further; it has already expanded to Courchevel, and looking at branches in Monaco, London and Miami.
To take an international favourite and give it a local twist is something the chef excels in. He hopes the familiarity will help people discover new dishes. “One of the common mistakes people make in Dubai is that they always order the same food, because maybe they think that this is all there is to Italian food. But Italian cuisine is very deep in the region, and there is a lot of variance in dishes when you go from south to north. When I go to the table to meet a guest, I always bring something from the south and something from the north, because I want them to try all of the different dishes that we have in the region,” he says.
That said, the inventor isn’t pleased with all the pasta cooking trends that dominate social media feeds (sorry Meghan Markle). He grimaces at the thought of overcooking pasta as much as he does a one-pot pasta dish. “Pasta is simple but it’s not something basic. Dropping everything into one pot is not pasta. For one thing, there are so many different types – and they should be cooked differently. So, when I see people maybe making fun of the dish or just putting everything -cream, pasta, tomato in a dish and put in the oven… That is something strange,” he says.
He would never do it himself, he claims, adding that when he is in a hurry, his go-to is spaghetti with cherry tomato. “It is a quick pasta, but full of flavour with just some nice, extra virgin olive oil, sweet cherry tomato, a little bit of garlic,” he says. Simple notes that remind him of home; of growing up in a place where the kitchen was full of cheer as knives worked to cleave meat, pasta was kneaded by practiced hands, and tomatoes and spices burbled together to create a rich sauce that would be the day’s conversation starter at the dinner table.
Karishma Nandkeolyar
Karishma Nandkeolyar loves working with words. As part of the lifestyle and entertainment beats, she enjoys discovering new things happening in the UAE as well as human interest stories that’ll tug at your heartstrings.