Lorenzo Cogo

Learn everything and forget everything. In a very personal journey, Lorenzo Cogo seems to have done his homework and meditated thoroughly on the principle ruling contemporary art suggesting, both to the novice and to the expert, to learn as much as you can and then to forget everything. Lorenzo knows this well indeed, after having compiled a manifesto for a new trend which is all in all an artistic avant guard, in this case, culinary. His kitchen is based on the instict, it's a Cucina Istintiva.

At the risk of exceeding in the commentary, in order to portray his character faithfully, some reference to the past is necessary, at least so that we can be surprised by his zigzagging between continents: after finishing his studies, Lorenzo Cogo flies to the other side of the world, to Shannon Bennet's Vue de Mond, in Melbourne. From here he moves to Sydney where he learns the techniques of the famous Mark Best in his Marque Restaurant. He then moves to the Far East for some time, just so he can allow himself the luxury of an internship with Heston Blumenthal, in his renowned The Fat Duck. He has a very peculiar inclination for the East, so much that he arrives in the Land of the Rising Sun where he sharpens the knives of his technique, which again deserves a capital T, under the protection of his collegue and friend Seiji Yamamoto who, metonymically, transmits him the typically Japanese rigour for the selection of primary products and the respect of tradition. After this fruitful experience, he comes back to the Old World where he meets Victor Arguinzoniz: thanks to him, he decides to stay in the Basque Countries where he starts to discipline fire and to play with its live charcoal: he stays there for a year and a half, enough to become sous-chef. For his last experience before his debut as a solo, we have to mention the internship at Noma in Copenhagen, under the supervision of the current best chef in the world, that is, of course, René Redzepi.

This commentary may appear as pure superficial factual knowledge, in fact it helps us to interpret what is, without any doubt, the establishment of a completely new kitchen, though as ancient and explosive as instinct, that takes shape, day after day, between the white walls of El Coq (hear any assonance?) in Vicenza. Some of his dishes are already renowned, such as his Waggy and truffle Shabu shabu which, after knowing Lorenzo's story, we now understand with more awareness. After all, in some cases, tasting one of his dishes is like participating in a session of hypnosis, you become more aware and sometimes you even remember experiences you've never had.