It sounds like the dream: days of being served risotto, pasta, carved beef and creamy burrata. That is the reality for the athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, some of whom have taken to TikTok to gush over close-ups of the local cuisine they are being served at the Olympians’ canteen. “Oh my God” one exclaimed in a video. “Nine out of ten!” declared another.
But not everyone has been impressed. Gleb Smolkin, a Russian figure skater representing Georgia, expressed revulsion towards the food on offer at the Olympic village, where 1,500 athletes are living on the site of a former rail yard. “In the village, we haven’t found any Russian or Georgian cuisine — nothing of the kind,” Smolkin, 26, told the Fanpage website. “The food here is European and, for now, quite monotonous … Pasta is already starting to make my stomach churn.”
His comment did not go down well with locals, who were proud when their cuisine won Unesco world heritage status in December. Some social media users said Smolkin should “go home”, “stop breaking our balls” and “go back to eating crickets and earthworms”.
Italian athletes share a meal with Sergio Mattarella, the country’s president
PAOLO GIANDOTTI/QUIRINALE PALACE/EPA
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Celebrity chefs have run to pasta’s defence. “A plate of pasta with tomato sauce is one of the best things in the world,” Benedetto Rullo, whose restaurant renounced its Michelin star two years ago, said.
Luciano Monosilio, known as the King of Carbonara, said that it was perfect for athletes. “Carbonara is a complete food,” he said. “It could be just right in a specific moment of an athlete’s preparation or rest.”
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The canteen managers had advice for Smolkin who, with his American-born wife and dance partner Diana Davis, has also competed for Russia. “Nobody is obliged to eat pasta,” said Elisabetta Salvadori, head of food and drink for the Olympics. “There are always potatoes, rice and bread.”
Dissent has been isolated at the village’s canteen, which is open 24 hours a day. Since huddling for a selfie with Sergio Mattarella, the 84-year-old Italian president, on food-laden tables last week, athletes have gleefully displayed their favourite picks from dozens of dishes. A main course, side dish and alcoholic drink typically costs about €25.
Salvadori said that yoghurt, pizza, focaccia and pasta, which feature on menus approved by the International Olympic Committee, were going down particularly well with athletes searching for a quick intake of carbs.
Athletes had been spotted wolfing down plates of the latter at breakfast, she said. “We have been specifically asked by some countries, and not Italy, to offer pasta and pizza outside of main meal times.”
Matthew Smith, a South African skier who calls himself Snowbok, gave the canteen’s quattro formaggi pizza the thumbs up although, by his own admission, he struggled to pronounce it. “When you bite into it you can smell the cheese,” he gushed on TikTok. “It’s fluffy, it’s crispy, it tastes like a cloud … Benissimo.”
Matthew Smith, South African cross country skier
A chocolate pie has also gone viral after Courtney Sarault, a Canadian speed skater, filmed herself revealing its melted chocolate centre, drawing gasps from onlookers.
Asked why Italian food had been such a hit, Rullo said it was because it was both tasty and healthy. “It’s all so simple, unlike French cuisine, which is much more technical but also more complex, fattier and richer.”
As for Smolkin, Arcangelo Dandini, a chef from Rome whose restaurants include one in Westminster, invited him to broaden his horizons.
He said: “There is an infinity of pasta varieties depending on what you want to eat them with, whether it be in a soup, as a pasta salad or with thicker or lighter sauces.”
Smolkin’s coach did not respond to an interview request.
Dining and Cooking