Identità Milano opens with La Grande Milano and La Grande Italia

The most ambitious project in the history of Identità Golose is materialising: the International Hub of Gastronomy is opening on the 18th and 19th of September in the heart of Milan, in Via Romagnosi, 3, a short walk from Teatro alla Scala. Since 1949 and for over 60 years, this was the location, of Fondazione Feltrinelli.

We can now anticipate the first part of the very rich programme opening Identità Golose Milano, whose first days will have plenty of extraordinary guests. 

As mentioned, the opening will take place on September 18th and 19th. This will include a big press conference and two days open to guests and friends who will join us and celebrate the beginning of what we hope will be a long history.

The two days will end with two big gala dinners, which will perfectly depict the spirit behind our Hub. 

As the case of the six months of Identità Expo, from May 1st to October 31st 2015, when we had the pleasure of welcoming prominent chefs both from far and near, in Via Romagnosi we will also have the goal of presenting great gastronomy by representing both Milan, Italy and the entire world. 

Milano - Italia - Mondo. Indeed for the first gala night, on Tuesday September 18th, we invited seven great fine dining professionals working in Milan. These chefs contributed with their work in making this town an increasingly important point of reference for gourmet lovers. 

«Nobody chooses where they are born. I was lucky to be born in Milan. Given my parents’ heritage, it could well have been Como or Trento. I was lucky because Milan is the only town in Italy that is spontaneously and sincerely open to the world. We have a millennial history, a big heart and a cuisine of our own, but we’re curious and ready to taste and perhaps acquire every other cuisine, as long as it’s convincing. In 2004 Identità Golose could have no other place of birth, and now we have a permanent location which will be christened on September 18th by seven great chefs who have added aroma to the city. They’re great, we’re proud to have them with us for two months». These are the words of Paolo Marchi, creator of Identità, introducing the meaning of this first, extraordinary event.

Here’s the first “dream team” summoned to represent La Grande Milano, the great Milano, on September 18th: starting from Claudio Sadler, protagonist in Milan since 1986, chef and patron at restaurant Sadler, who will take care of the first cold Entrée. Andrea Berton conquered Milan first during his years at Trussardi alla Scala, then he confirmed his talent at the Restaurant named after him: he will make the hot Entrée. Carlo Cracco, originally from Vicenza though Milan is now his second home, will walk the few metres that separate Identità Golose Milano from the new home of Ristorante Cracco and will make a Pasta based first course.

Davide Oldani will take care of Rice. Originally from Milan, he’s another emblem of Milanese fine dining with his D’O in Cornaredo, e few kilometres’ from the city centre. Antonio Guida is instead from Apulia, and has worked for many years, and with great success, far away from Milan. Of these chefs, he’s the one who arrived most recently in town. Yet with his Seta dell’Hotel Mandarin Oriental he’s immediately shown he wants to become a prominent figure in this scene. Plus he’s a very welcome neighbour of our Hub: he will have the task of surprising the guests with the Main Course. Finally, the Dessert of the first gala dinner will be prepared by two friends and great professionals, Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani, who have taken the baton of one of the most emblematic Milanese culinary histories, and now direct the kitchen of the iconic Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia.  

«Twenty-four hours later, on September 19th, the second gala event will take place: after Milan, Italy. And the world will follow next. We’ve thought of following the same structure used for the guide since its debut in 2007/08, dividing it between Italy, Europe and the World. We want to focus on quality, wherever it comes from. As for the names, I’d like to point out one: Annie Féolde. I’m sorry I didn’t know her earlier as much as I do know her now. I’ve never seen so much energy enclosed in just one person. She often manages to make all those cooks full of arrogance, with few ideas and even less substance look like pieces of junk». With these words Paolo Marchi introduces the protagonists of the second gala event, on September 19th, chosen to represent the best of La Grande Italia, the Great culinary Italy. They will do so, just like the chefs who have represented Italy ever since the first edition of the Congresso di Identità Golose, created by Marchi with his business partner Claudio Ceroni, founder at Magenta Bureau.

The first guest comes from Senigallia, a small town with a high density of Michelin stars. He’s one of the most inspired interpreters of seafood fine dining: Mauro Uliassi will have the pleasure of opening the event with his cold Entrée. Our journey across Italian gastronomy will then take us to Vico Equense, with the creator of Festa a Vico now a not-to-be-missed event for gourmet lovers: Gennaro Esposito, chef and patron at Torre del Saracino will make the hot Entrée.

Cristina Bowerman, president at Ambasciatori del Gusto and at the helm of Glass Hostaria in Rome since 2005, is the perfect representative of the contemporary evolution of Italian fine dining, with her endless curiosity and the scientific use of techniques and ingredients from all around the world. She will show her talent by creating the Pasta-based first courses. Another grande dame of Italian gastronomy, Annie Féolde, the soul behind the historic 3-star Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, together with Alessandro Della Tommasina, will take care of Risotto.

Niko Romito conquered his three stars in a very short lapse of time, showing a unique natural talent, together with the extraordinary entrepreneurial far-sightedness that allowed him to add other successful projects to Reale Casadonna: who better than him could make the Main course in this unique dinner? And there will be three stars shining on the Dessert too, with two dear friends of Identità Golose, brothers Enrico and Roberto Cerea who continue the family history at Da Vittorio in Brusaporto with absolute coherence and constant evolution.

These two extraordinary dinners, dedicated to the guests who will be invited to celebrate the opening of the first International Hub of Gastronomy, will only be the beginning of a work through which we will offer the people of Milan (and beyond), a sort of permanent fine dining Congress, with guest chefs arriving in turns from all around the world. 

The activities at Identità Golose Milano will continue with the third element in our project, after Milan and Italy, the world. The first dinners open to the public will have great professional from the international cuisine scene arrive in Milan and present their signature dishes: we will soon let you know their names, and most of all we will soon open reservations for these not-to-be-missed events at Identità Golose Milano.

For now we can only say that, in order to reserve tables in the restaurant area of Identità Milano, we will start a special collaboration with TheFork, the leading online booking platform, with whom we’ve already launched very successful projects such as the recent TheFork Restaurant Awards.

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Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso