A history of Italy’s three stars

Whether we Italians like it or not, were it not for the Michelin guide very few people around the world would know our most talented chefs. We all understand stars, be it one, two or three. Not that numbers or other symbols are not as clear, but, printed guide crisis aside, nobody buys a guide in Italian if they don’t know the language. Hence the decades old strength of the Red Guide.

While we wait for the 2017 French edition, which is always the last to be out, the launch of the Spanish one, on Wednesday 23rd November was newsworthy for Italy too. Third star to Lasarte in Barcelona. The patron is Basque Martin Berasategui, already holding 3 stars since 2002 near San Sebastian, but the chef is Italian, Venetian Paolo Casagrande. He’s not the only Italian abroad with such awards. We have Umberto Bombana from Bergamo, in Hong Kong since 2012.

Casagrande and Bombana join six of their cooking colleagues within the Italian borders: Nadia Santini, Massimiliano Alajmo, the Cerea brothers, Chicco and Bobo forming a whole, Massimo Bottura, Enrico Crippa and Niko Romito. Yet the three-starred establishments in Italy are eight, except Annie Feolde and Heinz Beck are not originally Italian – she’s French and he’s Bavarian.

The French have been repeating again and again that they reward the restaurants, not the chefs. So when it’s time to count how many have three stars since the first Italian edition of the Michelin guide, in 1956, we need to find an agreement: restaurants or chefs? Twelve in the former case, thirteen in the latter. How can it be? With Gualtiero Marchesi we refer to the restaurant awarded in the 1986 edition, there’s no doubt: the first in Italy. However Heinz Winkler, South-Tyrolean born in Brixen, anticipated the great Milanese chef by four years thanks to the third star at Tantris in Munich in 1982. An Italian found his America in Germany.

I prefer putting everyone in the same list, those who were Italian since birth and those who became Italian, whether they cook in Italy, Europe or elsewhere. How many overall? Fifteen, of whom two chose our country as their stage. It all began with the 1982 edition of the German guide though not many people in the public opinion noticed it – and even less remember it today – partly because Germany has never been famous for its craveable food, partly because when in front of a name like Heinz Winkler most think of a foreigner.

Regardless of his nationality or that of the restaurant, the then 32-year old chef from Brixen was celebrated in the fall of 1981 as the youngest three-starred chef ever. His relationship with the top stars went swinging: three from 1982 to 1991, then he moved to Aschau and the break was inevitable, then just two editions at the top, 1994 and 1995, new break, this time for his fault, at least according to the Red Guide’s inspectors, then again three stars in 2001, which he lost for good in 2009.

Marchesi was instead crowned in 1986, when in Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. And when in 1992 he announced he was to move to Albereta, in Erbusco in Franciacorta (Brescia), the Michelin guide made an exception and left him three stars all the same. A tribute to his genius but also a desire not to impoverish the Italian podium. In 1990 it was the turn of Ezio Santin at Antica Osteria del Ponte in Cassinetta di Lugagnano (Milan) and in 1993 Annie Feolde at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence. So as not to leave them alone, an exception was made for Marchesi .

Today Winkler, Marchesi and Santin have all lost their 3 stars, the former two since 1997. Not Feolde. In fact, after losing the third star in 1995, she saw it shining again in 2004, the first woman ever to rise again, not a casual choice of words since the chef from Nice is the first to realise that «failing is like dying».

The Nineties were also the magic years of Nadia Santini, three stars since 1995, 23 editions, a record increasing year after year; of Alfonso Iaccarino in Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi (Naples) and Luisa Valazza at Sorriso in Soriso (Novara). His glory lasted from 1997 to 2001, and from 1998 to 2012 for the Piedmontese chef.

The 2017 edition has ten Italian restaurants with three stars: Santini since the last century, then Massimiliano Alajmo at Le Calandre in Rubano (Padua) since 2003; Heinz Beck at La Pergola in Rome since 2006; Chicco and Bobo Cerea da Vittorio in Brusaporto (Bergamo) 2010; Massimo Bottura at Osteria Francescana in Modena and Umberto Bombana at 8 e ½ in Hong Kong since 2012; Enrico Crippa at Piazza Duomo in Alba (Cuneo) 2013; Niko Romito at Reale in Castel di Sangro (L’Aquila) 2014 and now Paolo Casagrande at Lasarte in Barcelona. Ten chefs in and five out. With a world record: the youngest chef ever with three stars is Alajmo. When the Michelin awarded him in 2002 he was only 28.