Lopriore: I’ll work by myself

We arrive at Kitchen a little late – due to the bad weather – and upset after the news of the week: the clamorous separation between Grand Hotel di Como, under the new Starwood management (that is to say the Americans of Sheraton and other famous brands) and the brilliant chef with hair that looks a bit like Einstein. At Kitchen however, the atmosphere is peaceful: maître Stefano Gaiofatto welcomes with the usual slightly British liveliness, Lopriore is smiling; no blood will be running, except the one necessary for the civet.

Given the circumstances, a special menu was provided for, seven dishes that marked the less than nine months on Via per Cernobbio 41, holidays included. It is no surprise that they have become almost classics of a “new cuisine from Como”, if only Lopriore had had the time to make it root. We had already tasted four, starting from the entrée: Zuppa pavese (that is to say egg shell, fresh egg yolk lightly warmed up with a spiced broth) and Cauliflower with marinated and smoked lake fish roe, honey vinegar and jasmine, a perfect starter, if culinary perfection still exists.

Lopriore told us: «Leaving was a coherent choice, no polemics. I thought: it is time to work by myself. I had arrived here based on a shared project, but after the Christmas holidays I noticed this sharing had diminished. I therefore thought it was right to get separated». No recrimination or resentment: the chef dishevels his hair, he’s completely concentrated on the future. What’s past is past.

A dish we hadn’t tasted yet, Spaghetti alla lombarda. Lopriore uses some very famous industrial pasta, with no special quality, because he doesn’t need the character there, he wants a tasteless support. The magic is underneath: a centrifuge juice of parsley seeds which, with butter, lemon and a sprinkle of parmesan, cuddles the palate.

Then, Intingolo d’anatra, the duck served with the above mentioned civet made with hare blood, with scents of cocoa, all this inviting to dip the bread that was served at the beginning with the butter: a crispy crust and a nicely acid crumb (mother yeast) - addictive. It introduces the meat course: Savoy cabbage and pork. The ears, tongue, the broth in a small cup, the cooked salami, the rib-eye steak, all paired with the vegetable and the centrifuge juice made with carrot seeds of which we wrote here. Pure territory.

Lopriore told us: «I’m taking a 6-8 month break. I will not stop, I’ll still work, I have contacts. In Siena, mostly: I’ll probably return there, in an interlocutory phase. But I will serve a rather simple cuisine, I don’t want to think too much. In fact, I will continue my research, to be better prepared for what comes next. Which will be entirely mine».

In a recent interview of ours with Lopriore, he declared he was in love with Como. This is demonstrated by his Rice with freshwater bass, in cagnone, in which butter and sage (with a green sage sauce, wasabi-style), plus the toasted flour wrapping one of the two “larva” (the cagnone, laghée in Lombard), add some almost invasive certainly delicious aromas. It’s a new Lopriore, who is deeply studying the lake and superimposes his personality to it: one influences the other, and vice versa.

The statements of the chef at the end are important: «I believe it is time for me to work by myself. To work solo, with a restaurant of my own. It’s not just an idea, it’s a project which I believe – I’m rather certain – will be accomplished, let’s say by the end of the year or the beginning of the following one. Where? Here in Como! I’m happy, I have my family, I have established relationships with excellent suppliers, I know what to do». He had told us about it here: broths, burbot liver … «Exactly. I want to "write" the cuisine of Como, in my own way. In a restaurant seating few people, the right number to support oneself. And a small cellar: people come to eat my food, for no other reason…».