The 2022 edition of the Guida di Identità Golose is online: here are all the numbers and Young Stars

Monday 7th March 2022, 2 pm: the 15th edition of the Guida ai ristoranti d’Italia, Europa e Mondo di Identità Golose, the seventh entirely online, free and available to all is online.

As we write, there are 1055 reviews, that is to say 227 extra restaurants compared to last year (with edition 2021 we stopped at 828 because of the lower number of foreign restaurants), a number that is closer to the last pre-covid edition (1111, in December 2019).

Of this year's 1055 establishments, 218 are brand new, 902 are Italian and 153 from 30 countries in Europe and around the world, from Austria to Thailand, from Norway to Colombia. The pizzerias are exactly 100, that is to say 10% of the total, a percentage that proves the liveliness of this segment.

There's an important novelty this year: Claudia Orlandi reviewed 16 cocktail bars, not just establishments that serve signature cocktails with food (the total would be much higher than 16) but bars in which the cocktails are better, in terms of quality and creativity, of the strictly culinary offer.

The establishments run by cooks under 30 and 40 are 510, little above the total, a number that is very important for us.

On Monday morning at Triennale in Milano we gave 19 awards to the young stars of 2022, “young” because, as per tradition, nobody is yet 40. These are all the winners:
 

Valentina Rizzo from Farmacia dei Sani, Ruffano (Lecce) (best female chef, read the motivation)

Matteo Metullio and Davide De Pra, Harry's Piccolo, Trieste (best chef)

Himanshu Saini, Trèsind Studio, Dubai, Arab Emirates (best international chef )

Roberta Merolli, Tre Olivi del Savoy Beach Hotel , Paestum (Salerno) (best pastry-chef)

Davide Boglioli, Enrico Bartolini al Mudec , Milan (best sous chef)

Pier Daniele Seu, Seu Pizza Illuminati , Rome (best pizzaiolo)

Laura Carollo, Gagini, Palermo (best maître)

Lorenza Panzera, Zelo del Four Seasons , Milan (best female sommelier)

Carlo Salino, Opera, Torino (best sommelier)

Richard Abou Zaki and Pierpaolo Ferracuti, Retroscena , Porto San Giorgio (Fermo) (surprise of the year)

The Fais family from Josto, Etto and Framento in Cagliari (family of the year)

Ludovica Rubbini and Riccardo Gaspari , Sanbrite, Cortina d’Ampezzo (Belluno) (service and hospitality)

Eugenio Signoroni, Slow Food editore (best food writer)

Marco Ambrosino, 28 Posti, Milano (contaminazioni [influences])

Davide Guidara, I Tenerumi del Therasia Resort, Isola di Vulcano (Messina) (experiments in the kitchen)

Alessandro Billi, Osteria Billis, Tortona (Alessandria) (identities of rice)

Riccardo Forapani, Cavallino dal 1952, Maranello (Modena) (identities of pasta)

Sabina Yausheva, Dry, Milano (best barlady)

Matteo Di Ienno, Locale, Florence, (best barman)
 

As usual, on top of the reviews, we have the Storie di Gola, itineraries presented by prominent restaurant professionals, journalists and chefs. Here are the 10 stories for 2022:

Planks, wine and hardboiled eggs: the most irresistible "piole" in Torino by Luca Iaccarino and Stefano Cavallito

My tasty Milano has a touch of the east by Giulia Liu

From Centocelle to the centre: Roma mon amour by Annalisa Zordan

The centre of Naples, Rione Sanità and my street by Marianna Vitale

In Barcelona it's all a question of food by David Egui

Happiness lives in Copenhagen by Giulia Caffiero

Paris, dish after dish by Ryan King

Fine dining, brasseries, brewers...: versatile Brussels by Carlo Passera

My 4 corners of New York, from Harlem to Williamsburg by Michele Casadei Massari

The rebirth of Bogotà, in 20 locations by  Gabriele Zanatta

A final note to remind that the number of recommendations that one can find in the 2022 Guide is much higher than 1055 because almost in every review there's also a section with the chef's recommendations, his favourite place, which basically means that the recommendations double. If we add to this the circa 200 recommendations in the "Storie di Gola", the above-mentioned stories, we easily have over 2K recommendations.

A report we've tried to make as faithful as ever thanks to the work of 90 collaborators who write for us from Italy and abroad. We would like to thank them all. This year, we also welcome Giovanna Abrami, Sylvie Berkowicz, Alina Borghese, Maria Vittoria Caporale, Alfredo Colangelo, Per Anders Jörgensen, Francesca Mastrovito, Mario Pennelli, Vivian Petrini, Qui&All and Nadia Taglialatela.

Finally, huge thanks go to Elia Bogani, Cinzia Benzi, Annalisa Cavaleri, Federica Lisi and Filippo Sacchi for months of invisible work behind the scenes.

The reviews are all signed, enjoy the hunt.
(To help us correct typos and mistakes, please write to gabrielezanatta@identitagolose.it and federica.lisi@identitagolose.it).

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso