A preview of Identità Expo

Identità Expo was presented at Expo Gate in Milan, a great event within the event presenting signature fine dining inside the World Fair in an unprecedented format: six months in a row, every day from 10 am to 11 pm, with lessons, events, conferences and cooking shows. With a brand new element: the new concept will host a temporary restaurant of the highest quality. The protagonists will be the best chefs from Italy and abroad, who will alternate themselves presenting their creations in an exclusive location, overlooking the decumano, the main street in the heart of Expo Milano 2015.

The numbers of Identità Expo are staggering: 200 great chefs, over 450 events dedicated to food culture, 184 days dedicated to taste and innovation. An impressive organisational effort on behalf of Identità Golose, official concessionaire of Expo Milano 2015, together with MAGENTAbureau.

The programme is extremely rich: Le Cucine del Mondo, events dedicated to international cuisine; Identità Giovani, a series dedicated to the valorisation of new talents; Identità di Vino, various events every week, discovering Italy’s wine excellence; Identità di Pane e di Pizza, a format that was already tested at Identità Milano, analysing the world of leavened products, as well as Identità Naturali in which we will return to illustrate natural, vegetarian, vegan and raw diet cuisine. And also: Identità di Milano, a showcase of the city’s restaurants; Identità di Pasta, haute cuisine with one of the emblems of Italy; Identità Libri, a microphone for the authors of the most interesting books on food and wine; and Scuola di Cucina, with cooking classes organised in collaboration with ConviviumLab-Arte del Convivio.

A large part of the attention, however, will certainly by captured by the absolute novelty in the history of Identità Golose. «We will give a strong answer to all those who, over the eleven years of the congress, have “only” been able to watch great cooking performances, both as speakers and audience», says Paolo Marchi, the creator and curator of the most important congress in Italy on food and wine and the soul of this long “special edition”.

Five days a week, from Wednesdays till Sundays, for lunch and supper, it will be time for "Italian&International Best Chef": the restaurant will see as its protagonist a heavyweight in the world restaurant industry; thus 26 weeks with as many “signatures” who will alternate themselves with the help of a permanent team coordinated by Andrea Ribaldone of restaurant Ai Due Buoi in Alessandria in collaboration with Domenico della Salandra of Taglio in Milan and Domingo Schingaro of Ai Due Buoi.

For the debut on Friday 1st May until Sunday 3rd there will be Massimo Bottura, patron of Osteria Francescana in Modena. After him, other illustrious names: Ugo Alciati, Carlo Cracco, Giancarlo Perbellini, Roberto and Enrico Cerea, Gennaro Esposito, Marco Stabile, Emanuele Scarello, Moreno Cedroni, Davide Oldani, Pino Cuttaia, Francesco Apreda, Davide Scabin, Antonino Cannavacciuolo, up to Italo Bassi and Riccardo Monco, who preside the myth of Enoteca Pinchiorri together with Annie Feolde, just to give some names linked with the first months of the programme. Among the foreign chefs, some stars are already confirmed such as Slovenian Tomaž Kavčič, Peruvian Diego Muñoz, American Tony Mantuano and Brazilian Rodrigo Oliveira. On Sundays, lunch will be a four-handed affair: an Italian star and a foreign one will meet in a very unique event.

And there’s more. On Mondays and Tuesdays, at lunchtime, there will be the extraordinary Italian chefs of “Contemporary Italian Chef”. Christian and Manuel Costardi, Norbert Niederkofler, Antonia Klugmann, Claudio Sadler, Andrea Berton, Fabrizio Ferrari, Angelo Sabatelli, Cristina Bowerman and Fabio Abbattista have already confirmed their presence. On Monday and Tuesday nights, finally, there will be the special innovative menu dedicated to Identità Golose Expo and created by Andrea Ribaldone. Every menu, prepared by the chefs, will include four courses for 75 euros, including wines. The four-handed lunch, instead, will be available for 90 euros.