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Dumplings with squill-fishes, artichokes and sweet potatoby Moreno Cedroni
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The Rabbit that wanted to become a chicken, a brand new dish in the menu of Slovenian restaurant Hiša Franko in Kobarid, a main course that depicts the talent of Ana Roš, a chef who is making the spotlights point on the gastronomy of an often neglected country (photo by Zanatta)
What a beautiful season to cover the damp and splendidly green paths between the rivers Soča and Natisone in Slovenia, a few kilometres from the Italian border. And what a joy it is to stop at Hiša Franko, the den of Valter Kramar and Ana Roš, husband and wife, equally talented sommelier and chef. Their cooking ambitions timidly blossomed in 2002, yet within a few years they grew tremendously, so much so they tickled the curiosity of “Chef’s Table”, Netflix’s documentary series with a gigantic media capacity: the trailer from the second season, which will be ready in a few days’ time, has already been viewed 5 million times in Brazil. And Ana will be in excellent company with Grant Achatz, Gaggan Anand, Alex Atala, Dominque Crenn and Enrique Olvera. «The echo the documentary will have scares me a little», she explains, «but I’m strong». This was confirmed to us a few days ago. Her cuisine hints at no style if not her own. Her dishes are full of knowledge, curiosity, technique. And ingredients: why follow the dominating dogma of less is more when the challenge of putting together ingredients seemingly impossible to combine is so pressing from within? Why call it a signature dish, as if it were impossible to change in the future, when a dish is, by nature, always unfinished, always in progress? Why, for instance, not start from thinking about a dish with the meat of two animals?
Ana Roš. In order to find out more about the chef from Kobarid, go on Netflix from the 27th of May: "Chef's Table" a documentary series whose trailer has already been viewed 5 million times will be online (photo from Chef's Table)
The entrance to Hiša Franko in Staro Selo, a hamlet of Kobarid, only a few kilometres from the border between Slovenia and Italy, tel. +386.(0)5.3894120
born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt
Seven virtues... in just one dish