Identità 2020 won’t be in July. We’re working on the congress that will mark the rebirth of Italian restaurants

The decision was in the air. We now officialise it with a press release that is reaching all the editorial teams and the professionals of wine and food communication, after anticipating it to our future speakers and partners.

On the 25th of February we communicated the postponement of the congress of Identità Golose, rescheduling it in the hope of holding it in July. We did so with enthusiasm and optimism, before other events in every field were also postponed. Due to the extenuating circumstances, we are once again forced to find new dates for the 16th edition, always in Milan. The recent past and the future we’re about to face tell us we must be cautious. 

The goal of Identità Golose has always been to create the perfect context where to collect and concentrate the best ideas, giving energies and responses to an industry that renews itself thanks to an always fertile exchange of experiences. Therefore, we can’t wait to give once again voice to what we’re most passionate about: the world of fine dining and signature pastry making, and the world of fine dining room service. Our commitment is to find and communicate the new dates by June. We will work hard in this sense, to give shape to an edition that will be as rich as ever in content. 

The stage we’re leaving behind us proved to be a significant and dramatic test for all of us, leading to many thoughts and questions. During these weeks we have worked hard to keep the dialogue with partners and businesses and with the protagonists of Identità Golose always alive: chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, dining room professionals, entrepreneurs, pastry chefs, ice cream makers, pizzaioli, producers. They all offered us ideas and inputs for the future. 

It’s been a teamwork that has seen the sales and the editorial teams at work, plus Paolo Marchi’s personal commitment, animating the Instagram account of Identità through daily interviews with prominent figures. All this to collect thoughts that then feed the pages of our online magazine and digital channels, sure as we are that information and discussion are as precious as ever in a context where we need new points of reference.

Paolo Marchi e Claudio Ceroni in front of the entrance of Identità Golose Milano, the first International Hub of Gastronomy in Via Romagnosi 3 in Milan (it will open before the congress)

This was the press release. Paolo Marchi, curator and creator of Identità with Claudio Ceroni said: «Coronavirus is so strong it forces us to postpone the congress for the second time, this time to the autumn, when we hope that in Italy, Europe and in the world we will be back to living in security and trust when meeting people. For now, instead, we’re still dealing with the quarantine and with exceptional security and prevention measures; this shows the titanic effort we’re all asked to make to come out of the emergency unharmed. Nothing will be as before, if anything, because this home isolation will remain an unforgettable collective memory, just like the Spanish flu epidemic and the two world wars for our fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers».

«So - Marchi ends – for us organisers of Identità it’s not just about changing a date on the calendar: we want to think of the 16th edition as the edition of the rebirth of the entire restaurant industry, in all its facets. If someone still had any doubts on this, I believe they will change their opinion now».

Important moments at the congress

A concept – that of a "different" and even more important congress, important in the sense it will have to assess a difficult period and make a summary of the ideas and new forms of restaurant offer that will have emerged – which was also analysed by Claudio Ceroni: «It’s not just a question of moving from one date to another. But it’s a question of acquiring a mission, in this emergency, and a role that today becomes crucial, both for theIdentità Golose congress and for the Identità Golose Milano hub. That is to say we want to take a prominent role in the discussion, and in the design and support of all the new forms of offer that the restaurant industry will be forced to implement. Some of these will have a contingent character, they will be strictly connected with the lockdown, and will then disappear; others, however, will leave a heritage even when things will go back to normal».

There are many such examples, «like a more structured delivery service, and of higher quality, which won’t just satisfy basic needs, but become part of a much richer scene. Think of the introduction, in the restaurant industry, of different times and different prices depending on the moment of the day, which is typical of the Anglo-American culture. Here in Italy it never became popular. Now of course it will need to be tested, given the decrease in the number of guests requested by security measures. It will have some positive outcomes too: it will serve to attract new people to fine dining, and also to an affordable but high-quality offer. We will then become the channel for the processing of a drama that is in front of us all, but we will also act as a loudspeaker for the many new ideas that will come in the future. The recovery will require many months; and there’s no doubt it will be more than starting again. It will be a rebirth in light of a deep process of renovation that will involve ideas, experiences and even technologies».

«Over the past few years, we’ve already experienced a small revolution with the spreading of online bookings. What awaits us is a further moment of change, if possible even more important: Identità Golose will be there presenting it, offering it a spotlight. As always.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso