11-10-2017
Tony Mantuano, originally from Wisconsin, is patron chef at restaurant Spiaggia in Chicago since 1984, one Michelin star. In the same city he also owns Cafè Spiaggia, Purple Pig, Terzo Piano and River Roast (photos by Brambilla/Serrani)
When on the 4th November 2008 Barack Obama asked him to celebrate his first two presidential mandates in his restaurant, Tony Mantuano was thrilled. And even Matteo Renzi, when he met him in the kitchen of the Department of State in Washington DC almost a decade later, turned to John Kerry and Joe Biden and asked them: «I love Spiaggia, have you ever been?».
Perhaps they said yes because this strong bodied chef with a radio voice, a kind smile and clear voice has made the best Italian cuisine in Chicago for the past 33 years. For him and wife Kathy, in the dining room, this has always been a way of preserving the Calabrian and Molisan roots of their respective parents, which have actually been reinforced by their recently receiving an Italian passport. «We’re very happy», says Mantuano sitting one morning in front of a coffee, with the sun seeping through the large windows of his restaurant in the West Loop, «because next time we’re in Italy, we can stay as long as we want. And we can fulfil our dream: open an agritourism».
When did you first go? In 1982, two years before opening Spiaggia. A friend who imported marble from Tuscany created a contact for me with Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull’Oglio. At the time it wasn’t usual for two American chefs to take an internship so far away. There was no Internet and only the few food lovers who read the Michelin guide knew the names of fine dining restaurants.
The dining room at Spiaggia
What was Italian cuisine like in Chicago at the time? Full of stereotypes, and in a way it still is. Spaghetti with meatballs ruled. We didn’t care what the best Italian restaurants in Los Angeles or New York were making. We wanted a great fine dining restaurant, with the same style and warmth as Pescatore.
What were your first dishes? There were two restaurants, just like these days. At Caffè Spiaggia there was an oven for pizzas. At Spiaggia instead we roasted lots of meat and fish. But we were also studying innovative dishes such as Black pasta, with squid ink. It created uproar because nobody had every seen anything similar.
Mantuano with the executive chef at Spiaggia Joe Flamm
The restaurant is on the second floor, at 980 N Michigan Avenue
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
The events you cannot miss and all the news of topical interest from the food planet
by
born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt