12-12-2016
Steamed red partridge with braised cabbage and fat liver sauce, a dish in the menu at Lume, Luigi Taglienti’s new adventure, which got a Michelin star only 5 months after it opened. Compared to the days at Trussardi alla Scala, the chef from Savona born in 1979 is obsessively researching traditional French sauces. With great results, especially with game
Some chefs never change, faithful as they are to a style of cuisine decided early in the career and prolonged for ever, oblivious to uncertainties or criticism. Some instead work and listen, questioning their direction and horizon. These professionals consider maturity as a goal that must always be met, always focusing on it by exercising doubt. Luigi Taglienti belongs to the latter group. Exactly three years after our last visit it’s like meeting a different professional. Let’s make it clear, his style is still rigorous and personal, but the chef from Savona took a step back and then one forward, diminishing individualism and technique so as to leave his frontman, main character role, in favour of flavours. An essential step that many forget to take. The dishes in the menu at Lume – a very ambitious project of which we mentioned when it opened in June and which has already deserved a Michelin star – are neat and essential compared to when the 37 year old chef was at Trussardi. Now they must first of all please, and not surprise: «While I once wanted to show I was talented», the chef himself admits his conversion at the end of the meal, «today I find it’s more important to give the right flavour to the right ingredient. And make good dishes». Remarkable. And he’s already very successful at it, firstly because here in Via Watt «it’s like cooking at home». He was obviously not allowed the ease now surrounding him.
Luigi Taglienti in the refrigerated room used for hanging. All the game in the menu at Lume is hanged at the restaurant. In the photo, the wild ducks the chef now roasts serving them with a nest of pappardelle with black truffle
MORE THAN GAME. Taglienti’s Spaghetti with mushroom cappuccino, a blockbuster at Lume. It’s a very tasty dish as the pasta is finished with veal jus, soy, aromatised oil and confit lemon. The chef is from Savona: fish always has a prominent role in the menu
Gabriele Zanatta’s opinion: on establishments, chefs and trends in Italy and the world
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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