25-03-2013
Close-up, the chef from Viareggio Cristiano Tomei. A few months ago he moved his Imbuto to the Lu.C.C.A. - Lucca center of contemporary art, tel. +39.0583.491280, a centre which, until June 9th 2013, will host Antonio Ligabue’s exhibition “Instinct, genius and folly”, three words that are also suitable to describe the chef born in 1974
Visiting Cristiano Tomei in the new location of the Imbuto, inside the Lu.C.C.A. - Lucca center of contemporary art – while there’s a show on Antonio Ligabue, seems like a twist of fate. The title of the exhibition is in fact “Instinct, genius and folly”, and up until the end you’re not sure if this is referred to the tormented artist from Guastalla or to the “primeval chef” who recently moved from Viareggio into the Renaissance walls of Lucca.
Tomei, born in 1974, with a bandana rolled around the head to hold his long hair, is a volcano full of totally natural energy. In his kitchen there aren’t only machines: everything is hand-kneaded, hand-cut, hand-processed, starting from the sliced bread served during the meal, ready for the guest to shamelessly use it to finish the sauce, even if a visitor from the exhibition on the ground floor should arrive at that very moment, thus admiring what’s in the dishes too. It’s also a surprise for the guest, who “blindly” place their order, deciding only how much they want to spend, from 20 to 90 euros.
Sandwich with oil mayonnaise, raw fish with lemon zests, tomato and fried artichokes
Not to mention the extra virgin olive oil, the main character in his cuisine (with no extremisms though, when butter and cream are necessary, he uses them too) which he chooses mostly among those produced in the Lucca area, adaptable and balanced thanks to this land that is half way between mountain and sea. From the starter to the dessert, here the extra virgin olive oil is often the main ingredient, calibrating its intensity. Like in the case of the sumptuous oil mayonnaise which accompanies the sandwich filled with raw fish and lemon zest, tomato and fried artichokes – a small masterpiece of flavour and freshness, served in a fast-food style container – and it’s also the base for the superb burnt cream made with Russian salad and prawns, where it manages not to tower over the crustaceans.
Fake risotto with vegetables with raw scampi and a caramel made with prawn heads
The extra virgin olive oil is also the protagonist of the signature dish of the chef from Viareggio, the Garfagnana beef stracciata served on pine-bark. The bark is heated up in order to heighten the aroma, that is to say that of the wood and that of the oil with which the chef massages the raw meat, to which he adds some diced fat, toasted in a pan, and crispy potato chips. This is a dish worth “sniffing”, one you must eat with your hands, following the primeval, carnivorous instinct, reassembling, in your mind and in your mouth, the flavour of a lightly cooked steak.
Garfagnana beef stracciata served on pine-bark
Themes and characteristics linked to extra virgin olive oil, told by Luciana Squadrilli
by
a journalist born in Naples now living in Rome, she tries to make her three passions meet: eating, travelling and writing