Italy is great for the Red Guide

If anyone had any doubt regarding the marketing and communication skills of the French, the presentation of the Guida Michelin Italia 2017 in Parma must have solved those doubts for good. While in Italy we confirm our primacy in self-destruction because there’s never a moment on planet food that sees people united, at least in public, in fact the more you do you more you get criticised, the Red Guide takes its 62nd edition to the town of Maria Luigia and skilfully promotes made-in-Italy. Chapeau.

This is the result of the brilliant behind-the-scenes work of a chef-producer such as Massimo Spigaroli, of the acumen of mayor Federico Pizzarotti, who after all is an heretic follower of Grillo, and of the Emilia Romagna region which focuses as few others on its food excellences (they have 44 European PDOs and PGIs, a record in the entire Union) and on starred restaurant. This going beyond his majesty Massimo Bottura with association Chef to Chef, 22 in total, even though they have no positive news and the only news was negative as the very Parma lost its two-decade-old star at Al Tramezzo. Not to mention the closing in Piacenza of Antica Osteria del Teatro.

So who wins and who loses? The winners are Enrico Bartolini (three new places granting him a starred poker), Rome (overtaking Milan) and young chefs. Ten new starred chefs are not yet 35 years old and among the places that have confirmed their star, despite a change of leader in the kitchen, nine hired a twenty-some-year old. Italy as a system loses. Once again we’ll have to thank our cousins if people around the world will crave to eat in our restaurants. Female chefs lose (33 new places and no female chefs among them) and pizza. We’ll have to wait one more year to applaud a starred pizzaiolo. But one must also say that the pizza industry is even more quarrelsome than the Italian restaurant industry in general. There’s more. I see a touch of very French wickedness. The Michelin Guide has a hound nose when it comes to unearthing and awarding “poor food” all around the world, but then doesn’t sniff down the peninsula. It seems those directly involved look at Italy with the same lenses they use for themselves, and thus condemn us to the eternal second place, behind them.

And now the winners in an edition with a total of 343 glorious places instead of last year’s 334. No news in terms of three stars, they’re still eight. There are five new two stars (now 41 in total) and 28 new one stars (the total is 294). The utmost winner is Enrico Bartolini who changed everything, moving from Devero in Cavenago to Mudec in Milan, without this influencing the final judgement. In fact he got two more medals for his other two recent openings: Casual in Bergamo, with chef Cristopher Carraro, and the Trattoria in Castiglione della Pescaia in Maremma, with chef Marco Ortolani. Italians are not accustomed to launching three places in just a few months and see them immediately praised by the Red Guide, though in the first case he moved the restaurant, so it’s not totally new.

Out of the new two-stars, one must consider as a confirmed award also the one given to Nino Di Costanzo in Ischia as before opening Danì Maison he already had two at Mosaico (which, by the way, is back with one after a brief void), and Antonio Guida who reaches two stars at Mandarin hotel’s Seta in Milan, just like a couple of years ago at Pellicano in Porto Ercole (Grosseto). So the real news is Alfio Ghezzi at Locanda Margon owned by the Lunelli family in Ravina di Trento - it’s the first time a restaurant in Trentino gets this far – and Terra a Sarentino in Alto Adige, a province with 5 two-macaroon restaurants.

And for once Rome doesn’t suffer the comparison with Milan. In fact it wins as a province. The city of Expo toasts to Bartolini and Guida (with such a surname, he’s predestined…) as well as to Felice Lo Basso (from Unico to Piazza Duomo the star remains) and Luigi Taglienti, shining once again at Lume as he used to do at Trussardi after a long pause. However, there are 5 new stars in the capital: Assaje, Bistrot 64, The Corner, Magnolia and Per Me Giulio Terrinoni. When it comes to regions and provinces, Lombardy is always at the top, with 58 places, in front of Piedmont and Campania, both at 39, but Campania is third since they have no three stars.

As for provinces, Naples still leads with 23 restaurants and 29 stars (6 two-stars and 17 one-stars) in front of Rome, second, a nice leap ahead thanks to 12 restaurants and a total of 25 stars. Bolzano and Milan are both third, 18 places and 23 stars overall.

Final note: two more winners of the Birra Moretti award were also praised by the Red Guide, Christian Milone in Pinerolo (Torino) and Luigi Salomone in Castellamare di Stabia (Naples). They join Giuliano Baldessarri and his Aqua Crua in Barbarano Vicentino. Pietramare in Isola di Capo Rizzuto (Crotone), with chef Alfonso Crescenzo, is owned by Raffaelle Vrenna, president of Crotone Calcio who will thus be able to celebrate both the promotion in the A football league and the one in the fine dining heaven.

Finally, no stars for Matias Perdomo’s Contraste in Milan and Gianluca Gorini’s Le Giare in Montiano (Forlì-Cesena), Paolo Lopriore, now at Appiano Gentile (Como), and Christoph Bob at Monastero Santa Rosa in Conca dei Marini (Salerno). Many are surprised but it’s right as it is: we all think differently, sign our work and let the market judge us. A third of my stars would have been different, more or less, but then I curate the Identità Guide, lucky or not, depending on each case and each chef.