Two roosters in the same Desco

They say Elia Rizzo is a great chef, but with a bit of a temper... Surly, they say. They say his son Matteo, born in 1984, is as good as the father, and even more communicative: perhaps he doesn’t flood with words – blood will out – yet he’s still the son of this social network age. They also say that at Il Desco in Verona the food is always extraordinary; that the harmony between the more classic style of Rizzo senior and the creativity of Rizzo junior is now fine tuned, after the obvious initial difficulties that caused – add the recession and so on and so forth – the loss of the second star in 2014, in the middle of the generational transition, hardly easy: «We fought, I had to contain Matteo, I didn’t allow him to alter everything…».

Here’s the first news: Elia Rizzo has instead a beautiful personality. Better: he’s got a strong personality, self-awareness, determination, «being a father and a chef is hard. I can say I managed after all». He melts as soon as you touch the right topics, the ones he’s closest too: Matteo above all (the other son, Pietro, 28, keeps more to himself. Since one and a half years ago he’s been making excellent pizzas at Leon d’Oro). And this is the theme of the article: fathers and sons in the same kitchen, the necessary transition we’ve already presented from a different point of view, that of Aimo Moroni and his daughter Stefania, who’s instead a fantastic dining room ruler, while in the kitchen we have “in-law” nephews Ale Negrini and Fabio Pisani (read here and here).

One step back. Elia Rizzo is from 1953. He was three years old when his parents began to run Bottega del Vino in the Scaliger’s capital. Raised in the kitchen, he grew immediately passionate about it, when only a child: «We dined at other places. I studied the dishes I liked the most and, as soon as I was back home, I made them once, twice, ten, twenty times until I felt the result was optimal». So tenacious, at twenty he ran the kitchen in the old restaurant, until 1981, when Il Desco was born. A success story, the first star arrived in 1985 («I swear I didn’t know what it was»). When did Matteo’s moment arrive? «When I saw him truly motivated. It was complex. Containing the impetus of youth is difficult. Perhaps I restrained him so that he would look for harmony, for the taste in a dish, instead of innovation per se. But I knew he had something burning inside him, that he didn’t experiment just to be cool. I believe I managed this situation as an intelligent father, who wants to give value to his son and step aside a little, while keeping an eye on him. You need to be as strong as strict».

Matteo feels for Elia a mix of devotion and competitive spirit: «I was always fascinated by my father’s skills. It’s difficult to match them. He’s magnetic. You stop to watch him dance among the pots, he’s got a natural feeling with food. I’ve never seen anything like it in anyone else. He knows how to use products with a unique touch, and he’s also a role model as entrepreneur: he’s opened 14 restaurants, today we participate in three more restaurants on top of this. I find it hard with one». However, there’s also another side to the story: «We fought frequently, I wanted to escape, to become like him but I couldn’t breath, I had no space». Meanwhile he attended the lyceum, studied foreign languages at university, played water polo in the A2 league with Verona and at the weekends or in the summer he helped out in the kitchen «but not out of passion, just because making some money was convenient».

What does a good parent if he wants to raise his son in the proper way? He makes him travel: London, Las Vegas, Barcelona, Los Angeles. He acquired experience far away from Elia’s kitchen, from his cumbersome presence. The confrontation was thus postponed to the beginning of this decade. Yet when it happens, it’s emblematic. On the one hand, says Matteo, the experienced chef «born in one of the most important osterias of the time, a sort of Scaliger’s Facebook ante litteram, where you found drunkards and journalists, the small world of Verona would be there. Great tradition connected with local culture». On the other, the young man who came back from a completely different journey, «international, multi-ethnical. Spices and aesthetics», which put it in these words makes Elia smirk…

Yet today you can find in the – excellent – dishes served at Il Desco an unexpected balance between these complex personalities. «I step in many small things – says Matteo – from the mise en place to the approach with the dining room, up to a new interpretation of some of our historic recipes. Risotto, stock fish». For instance? «Lobster risotto with chives, a long seller. The basis is the same, but I add some powdered coriander, lime… Plus I introduced new pastry making techniques, six different types of crispiness, new wafers. He’s obviously more classic».

“He” sniggers: «Five years ago, I would have never allowed him to alter dishes». And now? «Now he no longer wants to do it because he’s understood we must focus on the taste, not the scenography. We mustn’t worry if a dish is simple, we must make sure it’s good. There are few real inventors: Blumenthal, Adrià… Those who are not geniuses, but have talent, should get inspired by the past and try to improve it». So has Rizzo senior shaped Rizzo jr? «I did a good job as well. Years ago I told him: don’t stay with me, we fight. He remained, it was a nice choice, he turned into a man. He’s good, tenacious [like the father], he has goals, has the right amount of ambition. I can see myself in his growth to some extent: except he didn’t have someone to control him beside him, for good and for worse. Being a father and a chef is hard, yet when you find harmony, it becomes beautiful: you leave satisfactions to your children, you share difficulties. Loosing the second star? All in all I wasn’t that sorry. We didn’t lose heart but found motivation: in the future, praises will go to him more than me, because I’m still committed as always, but some tiredness has also arrived, 12 hours standing every day …».

Elia acts like he’s ready to retire, Matteo doesn’t confirm: «Not at all! The confrontation continues. He doesn’t want to let go – he says smiling, without rancour, in fact with immense love – We’re still two roosters in a henhouse, even if we’re not too good at that. I feel I’m ready to be independent, I pace up and down. Then dad arrives in the kitchen and asks: “What shall I do tonight?” and he stays there, he doesn’t let go». Luckily Alice, Matteo’s daughter, at least is too young to take part in the extraordinary generational clash: she’s little over a year and a half old.

Yet Elia and Matteo are indeed fantastic to watch. At Il Desco the food is splendid, the rumours we mentioned at the beginning were true. And then there’s the two of them: the two roosters look once again like two stars, when you watch them speak. You bet.