28-11-2016
Heinz Winkler, South-Tyrolean chef born in Brixen (Italy), always at work in Bavaria. Michelin Germany awarded him with three stars in the autumn of 1981. He was then chef at Tantris in Munich, the first Italian to ever get such a high acknowledgement from the Red Guide, four years before Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan.
Whether we Italians like it or not, were it not for the Michelin guide very few people around the world would know our most talented chefs. We all understand stars, be it one, two or three. Not that numbers or other symbols are not as clear, but, printed guide crisis aside, nobody buys a guide in Italian if they don’t know the language. Hence the decades old strength of the Red Guide.
While we wait for the 2017 French edition, which is always the last to be out, the launch of the Spanish one, on Wednesday 23rd November was newsworthy for Italy too. Third star to Lasarte in Barcelona. The patron is Basque Martin Berasategui, already holding 3 stars since 2002 near San Sebastian, but the chef is Italian, Venetian Paolo Casagrande. He’s not the only Italian abroad with such awards. We have Umberto Bombana from Bergamo, in Hong Kong since 2012.
Casagrande and Bombana join six of their cooking colleagues within the Italian borders: Nadia Santini, Massimiliano Alajmo, the Cerea brothers, Chicco and Bobo forming a whole, Massimo Bottura, Enrico Crippa and Niko Romito. Yet the three-starred establishments in Italy are eight, except Annie Feolde and Heinz Beck are not originally Italian – she’s French and he’s Bavarian.
Gualtiero Marchesi
I prefer putting everyone in the same list, those who were Italian since birth and those who became Italian, whether they cook in Italy, Europe or elsewhere. How many overall? Fifteen, of whom two chose our country as their stage. It all began with the 1982 edition of the German guide though not many people in the public opinion noticed it – and even less remember it today – partly because Germany has never been famous for its craveable food, partly because when in front of a name like Heinz Winkler most think of a foreigner.
Massimiliano Alajmo
Marchesi was instead crowned in 1986, when in Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. And when in 1992 he announced he was to move to Albereta, in Erbusco in Franciacorta (Brescia), the Michelin guide made an exception and left him three stars all the same. A tribute to his genius but also a desire not to impoverish the Italian podium. In 1990 it was the turn of Ezio Santin at Antica Osteria del Ponte in Cassinetta di Lugagnano (Milan) and in 1993 Annie Feolde at Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence. So as not to leave them alone, an exception was made for Marchesi .
Today Winkler, Marchesi and Santin have all lost their 3 stars, the former two since 1997. Not Feolde. In fact, after losing the third star in 1995, she saw it shining again in 2004, the first woman ever to rise again, not a casual choice of words since the chef from Nice is the first to realise that «failing is like dying».
Umberto Bombana
The 2017 edition has ten Italian restaurants with three stars: Santini since the last century, then Massimiliano Alajmo at Le Calandre in Rubano (Padua) since 2003; Heinz Beck at La Pergola in Rome since 2006; Chicco and Bobo Cerea da Vittorio in Brusaporto (Bergamo) 2010; Massimo Bottura at Osteria Francescana in Modena and Umberto Bombana at 8 e ½ in Hong Kong since 2012; Enrico Crippa at Piazza Duomo in Alba (Cuneo) 2013; Niko Romito at Reale in Castel di Sangro (L’Aquila) 2014 and now Paolo Casagrande at Lasarte in Barcelona. Ten chefs in and five out. With a world record: the youngest chef ever with three stars is Alajmo. When the Michelin awarded him in 2002 he was only 28.
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born in Milan in March 1955, at Il Giornale for 31 years dividing himself between sports and food, since 2004 he's the creator and curator of Identità Golose. blog www.paolomarchi.it instagram instagram.com/oloapmarchi