Postrivoro, a happy island

What happened was that at the end of 2011 Enrico Vignoli and Yoji Tokuyoshi, respectively office manager and (now ex) sous-chef at Osteria Francescana in Modena, decided to replicate in Italy two project that make Paris and London vibrate. Fulgurances and The Loft Project, by Nuno Mendes, are two stages that have been open for quite some time, in a temporary version, with promising chefs from all round the world. In its self-definition, the format under the Alps becomes «a space dedicated to the work, the thoughts and the intents of young chefs who are part of important European restaurants or have just opened their own, or are about to do so».

«There must be a strong Italian character, however», Vignoli was keen to emphasize while he searched for the right theatre where to hang the curtain for the show. This turned out to be the Medieval cloister of the Chiesa della Commenda in Faenza, with a strong, noble aesthetic impact. Underneath its vault arches, the team of Postrivoro – a mythological desultory animal – puts up a rectangular table seating around twenty people. Once every two months this is where for two times – supper on the Saturday and lunch on the Sunday – the dishes of a young chef are served combined with the drinks presented by knowledgeable drink expert (non only of wine).

In little over two years, the cloister has welcomed 16 couples: after the first show – with Takahiko Kondo of Francescana in the kitchen and Lorenzo Rondinelli, ex Trussardi, serving the wine – there’s been an important series of chefs who fight in backstage, from Luca Abbadir to Davide Di Fabio and Luca Lacalamita, from Antonia Klugmann to Franco Aliberti, from Rafa Costa e Silva (ex Mugaritz as of a few weeks ago at the helm of Lasai in Rio) to Laurent Cabut of Chateaubriand in Paris, Matthew Rudofker of Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York and David Jesus, sous chef at Belcanto in Lisbon. Those who want to make a reservation need to be fast: the (20+20) places vanish in a few minutes, one month prior to the event.

The sixteenth episode, last weekend, united Mexican Emilio Macías, sous chef at Astrid y Gastón in Lima with an impressive curriculum (Mugaritz, La Peca and Ryu Gin) and Oscar Quagliarini, freelance cocktail acrobat (until recently he was stirring and straining at Rebelot and now he’s designing the cocktail line of some 9 other establishments, including Living at Arco della Pace). The guests are invited not to tweet but to discuss the tastings: «The strongest and most ancient feeling for the human soul is fear», Vignoli quotes HP Lovecraft at the beginning of the tasting menu, «words are the first antidote to terror, let’s use them to get to know each other».

The atmosphere is very relaxed, people can get up and, while respecting the service, disturb the chef as he’s dishing out, helped by the guys at Postrivoro. In an atmosphere of monastic lightness one could enjoy some flashes of Mexican street food reinforced by made-in-Faenza foraged products (wild vegetables picked in the fields around the convent), a tribute to Liguria alternated with Peruvian ceviche, to be gulped together with very large and heterodox Bloody Marys (=made with the ingredients upside down) or Gin Tonic rosemary variations. A truly brilliant and peaceful lunch.

The next event is set on the weekend of July 12th-13th with David Pynt from Singapore, at work with the grill in the middle of the cloister, sided by the wines chosen by Nicola Massa. Reservations will be open one month before, on Postrivoro’s website.