Italy is one of the world’s homelands of taste and even the latest edition of the Michelin Guide, just unveiled in Parma, confirms this. The immense enogastronomic heritage of the Belpaese, interwoven with art, culture and beautiful landscapes, is an irresistible magnet not only for foreign tourists, who spend 13 billion a year in our restaurants, but apparently also for the world’s most famous chefs, who continue to choose Italy as the stage for their gastronomic challenges (and perhaps aspire to a slice of that international clientele that increasingly crowds the cities and resorts of Italy).
Cédric Grolet, the king of pastry in Milan
The world’s most celebrated pastry chef, Cédric Grolet, has decided to set his sights on Milan to open his first Italian boutique. After Paris and London, the master of sweet illusions – famous for his sugar fruits and flowers, perfect works of trompe-l’œil – has found in the Lombard capital the ideal square to dialogue with a cosmopolitan and refined public. He opens next year (but has not yet given details of the location) and curiosity is growing for the world’s best pastry chef (named in 2017 by the Les Grandes Tables du Monde association and in 2018 by the World’s 50 Best Awards), with his aesthetic precision and spasmodic search for perfection. His choice confirms the international vocation of the city, which in recent years has become the Italian capital most open to gastronomic innovation.
Alain Ducasse, the master in Naples
With over twenty Michelin stars won in his career, the world’s most Michelin-starred chef, Alain Ducasse chose Italy and Naples for his first signature in the Bel Paese (and the star soon followed). Across from the harbour in Naples, he opened last year on theninth floor of the Hotel Romeo: “Cooking in Italy means measuring oneself against a gastronomic culture that is both popular and cultured at the same time, in which every ingredient tells a story,” he says.
In the kitchen ischef Alessandro Lucassino, a young Tuscan talent who has worked with Ducasse for over a decade. Views over the Gulf of Naples, Vesuvius and Molo Beverello, with an open kitchen and an atmosphere that fuses contemporary art, design and nature. The menu is the result of an encounter between French haute cuisine techniques and local flavours: products such as Sorrento lemons, Paestum artichokes, blue crab, rock mullet and Controne beans are enhanced with precise, often short cooking times and a modern take on Mediterranean cuisine, but always respecting Ducasse’s philosophy of ‘naturalité’.
Nusr-Et, the global phenomenon that chooses Milan
It could not be missing from the list Nusr-Et, the famous ‘Salt Bae’ who went viral on social media for his salting of meat. With his steakhouse chain, which doesn’t look good financially, he has brought a spectacular and glamorous restaurant concept. After conquering Dubai, London and New York, he has chosen Milan for one of his most talked-about openings. The decision is not random: the capital of fashion and design, with its continuous flow of international tourists, represents a strategic square, capable of enhancing a brand that lives on image and entertainment as well as cuisine. Warm and atmospheric lighting, fine meats, scenographic service and a cosmopolitan public that loves to share every moment on social networks. Will it be a success or a flop? In the meantime, this is the new opening on everyone’s lips.
Dining and Cooking