04-01-2013

The training of a young maître

Pascal Tinari of Villa Maiella tells his story. From Dal Pescatore to the Auberge de l'Ill in Alsace

Pascal Tinari, third from right, with part of the

Pascal Tinari, third from right, with part of the dining room staff at the Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern, in Alsace. After cutting his teeth, today he’s the dining room manager at his family’s restaurant, Villa Maiella in Guardiagrele (Chieti)

I remember as though it was yesterday, the day when I arrived at Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull’Oglio. It was August 2008, I knocked on Antonio Santini’s door in the hope of working with his magnificent family, three generations in the kitchen, between his mother Bruna, his wife Nadia, and their children Giovanni, Alberto and Valentina. When I was a kid, to tell the truth, I wanted to work in the kitchen – while my brother, who’s now a chef, preferred the dining room. But our father forced us to stay, first of all, among our clients, in order to understand their needs and the meaning of service. Later, eventually, we would have been able to change and ask to work in the kitchen.

The day of my interview at Dal Pescatore I would have liked to be part of the kitchen brigade, but Mr Antonio told me: «You are a dining room person. If you want, you can start at the end of the summer». These few words changed my life. When you start from a family restaurant, you think it’s the most beautiful place in the world. In Canneto, however, a true temple for the restaurant sector, I started to feel small, and to build a different and intense vision of this work.

With the team of Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio (Mantua). In the bottom row, you can see Bruna, Antonio and Nadia Santini

With the team of Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio (Mantua). In the bottom row, you can see Bruna, Antonio and Nadia Santini

I had the pleasure to work with Hayashi MotoMototsugu, an extremely professional sommelier. And with dining room colleagues such as Manuele Menghini, today a real friend, and with many more, each one with his story. Gaining experience far away from home is essential because you loose your self-confidence, and have to start from scratch. I remember lots of travelling, hours spent on the train to go back home once a month. But confronting oneself with older men, and from different cultures, is priceless.

I remember one dinner: with me and the French host there were three men from Mantua, Canada and Colombia. It may look like a joke, but for each one of us, telling about our own land and traditions and imagining those of the others was fantastic. Later, I would visit them, and they would come here to visit me. These are things that make you grow.
It’s painful to be far away from home, there is no point denying it. But you learn a lot, from a human and professional point of view: every word of Mr Antonio veiled a patrimony of experience and knowledge. An enduring relationship, despite the distance.

With Marc Haeberlin, Auberge de l'Ill chef

With Marc Haeberlin, Auberge de l'Ill chef

After a year and a half spent in Canneto, I decided it was time to gain some experience abroad. Once again thanks to Santini, I ended up in France, the homeland of wine and of dining room service, in another great family-run restaurant: the Auberge de l’Ill in Illhaeusern, in Alsace. It was even harder but, again, I learned a lot: I worked with Serge Dubs, already the best sommelier in the world, and with Pascal Leonetti, who was then the best sommelier in France. Tastings, visits to wineries, their recommendations: I learned the humbleness of the great. I learned to divide in portions in the dining room from great maîtres, a style and a culture completely different from our own. A perfect system, applied to 120 seats, instead of the 30 of Dal Pescatore, a different service system but always of the highest quality. Hierarchical, meticulous, organised. Together with me there was also Alessandro Zana, today the maître at Da Vittorio in Brusaporto (Bergamo). Today we share a great friendship.

In April 2011, after a year in France, I came back home. A new journey began, even more challenging because it is “my”, “our”, restaurant: I work and I confront myself with my parents, Angela and Peppino and with my brother, Arcangelo, in the kitchen. I try to bring some novelties but, at the same time, I respect all that my parents have built in the course of time. 


Chefs' life stories

Men who, for a moment, leave pots and pans to tell us their experience and point of view

by

Pascal Tinari