Thiago e Felipe Castanho
Florentine steaks from 24-month beef sired by Romagnola breed bulls out of Nguni breed cowsby Giorgio Nava
Dal Mondo I dieci anni del Da Vittorio a Sankt Moritz: come fare grande cucina e ospitalità italiana, anche all'estero
What’s similar and what differs between the dining room in the main restaurant Reale Casadonna in Castel di Sangro (3 Michelin stars) and the service in the 3 Spazio restaurants (accessible fine dining) in Rivisondoli, Rome and Milan? Cristiana Romito and Gianni Sinesi discuss this. They end with an important note: "The best chef is a chef who also understands the dining room" (in the photo by Francesco Fioramonti, dining room and kitchen at Spazio Roma, inside Eataly Ostiense)
see part one Gianni Sinesi: The most important talent, the most difficult one (you cannot learn it, you must have it inside) is sensitivity applied to understanding the client: this is what leads to paying attention to details...
Cristiana Romito: ...for instance so as to note if someone is left handed and will need a different mise en place, or if someone eats slowly; the kitchen at Reale has its rhythm but as soon as we understand the type of client, we can better manage the pass, for instance by giving feedback with regards to timing as we know how long it needs to prepare and cook each dish.
G.S.: We’re the ones to set the rhythm in the kitchen. This is in fact one of the most important differences between Reale and Spazio. People go to Reale to relax and enjoy a cultural culinary experience. The dialogue between dining room and kitchen is essential at Spazio too but in this case the kitchen and dining room staff are faster on average and follow their natural rhythm.
The dining room at Castel di Sangro (photo Brambilla/Serrani)
G.S.: Milan is too fast. Cooks cannot go out or they’d slow down the service.
C.R.: Spazio Rivisondoli is an interesting case because we have given the kitchen staff the basic dining room skills: welcoming the guest, serving the dishes, presenting them. Alessandro De Stefanis another ex pupil at the school directs the process.
G.S.: They even had to learn to explain, present, open and serve the wine. For them I designed a simple selection of wines from Abruzzo, because the guys still want to keep a focus on the kitchen and I didn’t want to overwhelm them. At Spazio Roma the wine list is more complete, so as to satisfy a more demanding clientele: with Carlo Angelini, cellar manager, we chose a good selection of Italian wines, while as for foreign wines we chose a few bottles of champagne. Later with the dining room staff we studied a possible pairing. At Spazio Milano, where in the running I interact with sommelier Carlo Maldotti, I could instead count on my experience and the relations created over time to include a few special wines plus a few wines from Bourgogne, from villages to smaller yet important appellations.
A detail of the dining room at Spazio Rivisondoli, the restaurant born from the ashes of the first location of the Reale restaurant which moved to Castel di Sangro in the August of 2011 (photo by Francesco Fioramonti)
G.S.: Spazio Milano and Spazio Roma are elegant. Milan’s clientele is perhaps more international plus it’s fast: I don’t always have a chance to chat with the guests; Rome is calmer and warmer and as a consequence there’s more space for dialogue with the guests; Rivisondoli is “home”.
C.R.: The differences between the various Spazio restaurants show that as the work gradually becomes more challenging, the dining room grows in importance, and you cannot do without it. Yet the most interesting thing we’ve noted is that many cooks who also serve, have a better understanding of the restaurant’s dynamics once they’re back in the kitchen. You can’t imagine how many here at Reale now ask me to work a little in the dining room too.
G.S.: Those in our profession know both about the kitchen and the dining room.
C.R.: And a cook who understands the dining room is a better cook. 2. the end
respectively maître and sommelier at restaurant Reale in Castel di Sangro (L’Aquila), 3 Michelin stars
The public side of a restaurant seen by its protagonists: maître, restaurant managers, waiters