Romito: the goal is standardisation

Scene: end of dinner, Saturday 27th August. The author of the piece sits in the lounge above restaurant Reale Casadonna in Castel di Sangro. A few minutes later patron Niko Romito arrives. Gin tonic and a chat: both – given the person – of the highest level. He speaks with inspiration, he’s careful, takes his time to think, pondering his words, condensing concepts, balancing tones, dosing the essence of his thoughts. Comparing this with his dishes is even too banal, yet it is sound. I listen to him without taking notes, something you should do: I’m strongly tempted to ask for a pause and get the note book I left downstairs... better this way. It’s best to leave Niko to think freely, without the embarrassment, the reticence, the structure of a classic interview. What’s important – I tell myself – is memorising what he’s telling, because it will be worth an article. This article. (The dinner was exceptional. A series of thrilling “concentrated minimalism” what with great classics - Sweetbreads, cream, lemon and salt (2013), Onion Assoluto, Parmigiano and toasted saffron (2010), Veal Gel, dried porcini, almonds and black truffle (2011) – more recent dishes (the Watermelon and tomato, 2015, was fabulous) and very recent ones: Roasted cabbage, Tortelli with chicken, celery and marjoram, Seabass, capers and parsley).

1) STANDARDISING FOOD
«We need to standardise Italian cuisine, the classic recipes, so as to have a point of reference and increase the average quality. After all, it’s what Alain Ducasse and Joël Robuchon did when they decided to multiply their restaurants. We’ve undertaken this process in part, but we must increase it and make it sounder». Indeed it was Ducasse, we add, who complained: «I’ll never open a fine dining gastronomic restaurant in Italy until Italians agree on how long you need to cook one hundred grams of spaghetti».

2) REPLICABILITY
«By standardising recipes, you can replicate high quality cooking in different places. This system allowed me to create Spazio and Bomba, which are soon to open new branches, in Italy and abroad. When I signed the contract for Spazio in Milan, I still needed to open the one in Rome: this gamble was made possible by the fact I knew I could count on standardised procedures, which those with the necessary training could replicate easily. “Romito is almost never here”, I hear some people eating at Spazio say. True, I’m not here, because I don’t have to. This is the format, and it allows this». In any case, the food at Spazio is excellent.

3) THE EATALY MODEL
«We need to present better Italian cuisine abroad, and you can do so by using standardised recipes and procedures, but of high quality. After all, it’s the Eataly format, which works perfectly: they export products, we can export our excellent cuisine».

4) WHERE IS CREATIVITY BORN
«I ask my collaborators to be creative. Not when they’re at Spazio, though, but in Castel di Sangro, where we have all the space and tools to experiment. We research greatly, here in Abruzzo: what is created in this kitchen later becomes a standard model to be replicated wherever we open».

5) THE CHEF’S ROLE
«Standardisation must arrive from above, it doesn’t grow from the bottom. Fine dining chefs have all the knowledge and necessary tools to elaborate fine dining recipes for their gastronomic restaurant, and then others, simpler, but always of the highest quality, which can be replicated elsewhere. Chefs research, have technique, study products in detail, know how to give them the highest value. They also find the necessary tricks to standardise. It’s a virtuous dynamic which cannot start from the bottom. In the end, there’s the same relationship you have between high fashion and prêt-à-porter».

6) TRATTORIA AND TRADITION
«This process, of course, cannot increase the average quality of Italian trattorias. There can be a huge work leading to a new take on our tradition, but this doesn’t mean “reinterpreting” classic traditions that is to say turning them upside down. It means looking at them with contemporary eyes, using current concepts and the scientific knowledge we have acquired in the meantime: lower fat, respect for nutritional values and products, and so on. Our grandmothers could make excellent boiled meat too, but they worked unaware of the chemical and physical transformation they were causing: today we know this and know what technical trick we need to always make excellent boiled meat».

7) IMPROVING CATERING AS WELL
«This logic allows for impressive developments. On 19th October I’ll present in Rome a big project I’ve been working on for months with La Sapienza and Gruppo GioService Cristo Re to reach an incredible improvement in the quality of hospital catering. Basically, the quality control should not only be made at the beginning – when products enter the kitchen – but also at the end, when the food is served. A tomato that is good when purchased, should be good when served. Today quality varies too much in hospital catering. Instead of depending on standard protocols it depends on the different sensitivity of those who are cooking at the moment... This is not god: in this way they upturn nutritional and organoleptic proprieties, on top of wasting up to 45%. We need to define replicable models, exact formulas in this sector as well. It’s what we’re doing».

8)ADVANTAGES OF CATERING REPLICABILITY
«First of all, it guarantees a greater respect for nutritional proprieties. It also allows better aesthetics: used in a specific way, tomatoes won’t oxidise and are tastier. Moreover, the taste of the dish increases and the loss by evaporation diminishes. This allows reducing food cost: with the money saved, you can buy better quality raw materials».

9) RESPECT FOR TRADITION
«Saying we have to give a new take to tradition doesn’t imply not showing respect for it. Quite the contrary. I receive hundreds of CVs of young people who want to work at Reale. Some are very interesting, some reveal instead a career totally devoted to contemporary fine dining. I tell them: I’m happy to call you, but in five years’ time. In the meantime, go work in a trattoria. You need to have a perfect knowledge of tradition if you want to work on it later. I’m sorry to see more and more young people imitating the approach of Northern Europe: the Italian heritage is priceless, let’s focus on enhancing it instead».

10) MY COOKING
«Looking back I notice how, with this sort of thoughts and the following research, my cuisine has improved greatly. Today we are more and more focused on the overlapping of the same ingredient – for instance with Artichoke and rosemary, or with the Roasted cabbage – so as to both concentrate the aroma and enrich it with different nuances. I also work a lot on the dish’s cleanliness, almost eliminating fats and avoiding sauces», in search for the perfect harmony.

11) NIKO ROMITO FORMAZIONE
«After four years of work with Niko Romito Formazione, I see that the first students are already opening their restaurants. I’m proud, I’m happy to see a new generation of young cooks following a way of thinking I believe useful».

12) I WAS BORN A PASTRY MAKER
«I was born a pastry maker, with all it implies. I believe this attention I have for standardisation derives from this forma mentis».

13) HARMONY IN CASTEL DI SANGRO
«It’s no coincidence I’m in Castel di Sangro: here the whole setting helps giving harmony. Some thoughts are only possible in a magical place, with diluted time. My dishes express this serenity». The tasting menu is like a symphony, a unique opera; ordering from the menu makes little sense, it’s like isolating just a song without listening to the whole work (in fact, less than 5% of the guests do so). «I’ll add this: the overall experience starts with the first amuse bouche [Salted pistachio soffice: unforgettable] and ends the following morning, after sleeping at Casadonna, with breakfast».

14) THE COMING YEAR
«In summary: in my 2017 extraordinary projects will come true».