Piccolo Lago and 40 candles

«My next project? Leaving with my wife. Travelling, staying away for a long time. When? In a decade», that is to say as soon as a new generation will be ready in the kitchen in Verbania. Marco Sacco has the sense of history. He follows the ancient rite of passing on the knowledge. And the flavours.

The celebrations are just over for the 40th anniversary at Piccolo Lago, his beautiful bi-starred jewel that seems to dive into the body of water named after the nearby town, Mergozzo: and out of the choppy waters after the latest tempest the desire to draw a careful analysis seems to emerge. Everything began with Gastone and Bruna Sacco, in 1974, «I was 9 and I dived into it right away», thus experiencing the whole evolution of Italian cuisine until he was in charge of the kitchen, and created a Piccolo Lago that was just like him, «you always need to take the right steps, without staying behind but also without moving too much ahead». Strict respect of two rules: «Renovate oneself without rushing. Remain consistent».

Hard and silent work, that is, he’s not a chef for the stage. He is humble and aware: «We’re not French, we don’t have their food culture. We’re not Spanish, we have a gastronomic history that is too big behind us. We’re Italian and have territory, and that is where we need to start from: then we can work at it with all the modern techniques, but it’s our DNA». No spotlights, he is satisfied with the approval of his guests. For this reason he was touched when he had to organise this small party for the fortieth anniversary, he made a few calls («Would you like to cook at my place?») and people accepted immediately: «I’ll surely come, how lovely». Sacco perceived it was something important, perhaps unexpected: his colleagues’ consideration. The result was two days of celebrations that culminated in as many evenings of fine dining, the first with Italian protagonists – Cannavacciuolo, Cuttaia, Cerea, Berton, Gilmozzi – the second with international guest-chefs.

It was nice to see the great Josean Alija of Nerua in Bilbao dishing out his mythical Tomates en salsa. The veal sirloin presented by Giorgio Ravelli, at work at The Ten Bells in London was good with no ifs, ands and buts. Yoji Tokuyoshi’s fish-non-fish game, in a pleasant soup was remarkable – he was previously Massimo Bottura’s sous chef and is now ready to debut in Milan with a place of his own. «I was touched – Sacco himself says – by the grandiose simplicity of Pino Lavarra», Italian working at the Ritz Carlton in Hong Kong. Yet many were impressed by the elegance of Vladimir Mukhin, of the White Rabbit in Moscow: his pan-fried Ràfols black codfish, with a sauce of Abcasia lemon, fake porridge with asparagus and sorrel.

In other words, it was a true feast, for the palate and for the heart. Now it is over, there’s the satisfaction of a continuity that is not to stop: «Here at Piccolo Lago there’s a team of extraordinary young people, I got my children involved, we have the talented Paolo Griffa… I will do like my father did, I will leave the reins to the most deserving person». The time has not come yet. After all, one only needs to give a quick look at the beautiful body of water in front, now that the sun is peeping out once again, to recharge the batteries and start again.