In Stockholm, for the European selection of the Bocuse d’Or, the world-championship dedicated to 20-30 years-old chefs. The finals will take place in January in Lion. Representing Italy, Diego Rigotti from Trentino. The press tour had to start necessarily from a visit, not a dinner, at the Operakällaren, and the reason is soon clear. This is the posh, historical restaurant in town, a splinter of the Royal Palace that slipped on the other side of the branch of sea dividing the Swedish capital like Venice’s Canal Grande.
Stefano Catenacci, chef with a Michelin star in Stockholm
The building dates back to 1787, a factory of gold and stuccoes, with a
Michelin just regained after three years in Purgatory. Two centuries later, in 1987, it was bought by an Italian family and this led to a scandal, as
Stefano Catenacci, born in 1966,
Enrico Crippa’s separated-at-birth-twin recalls: “
Alessandro did everything: he’s messy but he’s also very intelligent. Newspapers headlines were something like ‘Pizza-makers buy the Opera House’ and
pizza-makers implied something else, because with us Italians it always ends up like this. Today our company owns seven hotels and even more restaurants and nobody is complaining. Ironically, we’ve never had a pizzeria”. But they’ve always had a strong desire to work.
The Operakällaren is starred, the cuisine is neither Italian nor does it follow the wave of the Nordic revolution: “If you write international cuisine, you’ll not be mistaken. I don’t know if Noma is truly the best place in the world, yet Redzepi has made it possible for the world to set their eyes on Scandinavia and this is truly important for all of us”. Then let everyone take his journey and choose.
The Catenacci family story is the kind that could inspire a book or a film, even though Alessandro Manzoni proved that every life can be illustrated with three words: “My father, Vincenzo, is from Rome, my mother is Neapolitan, they married early, she was 16, my father was 10 years older. In 1958 my brother was born and my father decided to change life. He had saved for one year and went to Amsterdam with a friend. One night they drank and had fun and then collapsed sleeping. When he finally woke up, his friend was no longer there and so was his money. He wasn’t quite a friend but we owe that theft our fortune. My father didn’t have the courage to tell about it at home, so he worked and said nothing. A few weeks later, someone suggested him to go to Stockholm because they said there was plenty of opportunities there. Said and done”.
The rest is for all to see. The
Operakällaren is one of those restaurants that dress the chef, not vice versa. “I was at
Albereta with master
Marchesi, there were also
Cracco and
Crippa. In ’95 I came back here and two years later I took the helm. When I think about Italy, I feel everyone would find it useful to come over here with very open eyes and learn. I’m speaking of respect, attention to the environment, ingredients and organisation. It is hardly true that you cannot make a good grocery shopping here: let’s not talk about fish, meat and game, even vegetables, some of which no-one once believed they could be eaten, today are part of daily cooking. One is called
harsyra and has a lemony flavour, it is sour. Another is called
myskmadria and is a sort of rocket salad. Moreover, here they go even further, and use also the truffles picked on the island of Gotland. When they ask me why I don’t have them arrive from Italy, I reply that they should try, and then let me know. Comparison is never a lie”.
Stefano bursts with satisfaction, he was born here and has a double passport and would never swap with Italy: “You work hard, but earn as much as you give. For instance, we’re part of an environmental association called Svanen. We have many rules to follow, so much so they fill a book this tall, some seven bins for differentiated waste, we’re obliged to use candles with no paraffin, however, in Sweden, when you’re driving and forced to stop the car, everybody turns off the engine not to pollute. It comes as natural and so you don’t feel alone”.
These stories make me really mad. They’ve stolen our Italy.
1. To be continued
