Identità continues. Meanwhile, it’s a boom

Identità did not end yesterday and this is not the usual final analysis celebrating the nth success of a classic event. Of course the curtain has fallen over Identità Milano, the eleventh edition of the three-day-event was as good as gold – from the gold of Marchesi to the most recent one used by Bottura, both of whom were in fact present – as demonstrated by the numbers we’re about to give. The usual “the end” sign, however, was replaced by a: “We’ll be right back”.

Identità Milano transmutes into Identità Expo, «we usually bid goodbye saying: “See you next year”. In this case, instead, it was a see you again soon…» says Paolo Marchi. Claudio Ceroni, patron of Magenta Bureau, who has always organised the event, confirms: «The approaching of an event as important as Expo, in which we will be greatly involved, could have diverted the attention and limited the participation. On the contrary, Identità Milano has never enjoyed so much visibility».

1,785 registration requests arrived from journalists, photographers and communication professionals, a +30% compared to the 2014 edition («Which was the one of the 10th anniversary, thus already a turning point, and saw a leap in quality and quantity» say Marchi-Ceroni ecstatically). This is confirmed by other data too: participants, people enrolled in the lectures... An impetuous growth: «Chefs come here to meet each other, to share their knowledge», says Marchi. Ceroni adds: «We have become a meeting point and a workplace for chefs, congress participants and journalists. We produce contacts, stories, stimuli»). The format works, «the congress is now seen not just as a way to taste, but most of all to discover. We are a recognisable, important brand, we are a guarantee. I’m confident, even though we will operate in a completely different context» and almost without noticing it, the founder and curator of IG is already thinking about the day after the next; about the six months of Identità Expo, rather than about the results of what has just taken place. After all, expectations are high.

100% Expo: a theme which indeed came out in Via Gattamelata, «it was a central reference, it was present almost in all the lectures. It is now something that exists, no longer a distant and nebulous event», says Marchi, happy about this, as in the case of another clear result from the congress: «I saw an overcrowded room, on Sunday morning at 10am, that came to listen to Leemann, someone with a 25-year career behind him. I was impressed: today his cuisine has made it big, has many fans. For 4 years now we’ve organised Identità Naturali, these developments reassure the choice we made then. A choice we made without dogmas: we give room to Daniela Cicioni and her vegan dishes and we do the same with Marco Stabile and Sergio Capaldo who speak about meat: we record what happens, try to outline trends». The chef from the Fær Øer tells us that quality is everywhere, it comes in multiple forms – there’s the French grandeur of Alain Ducasse and the almost bistronomic Paris of David Toutain - and it comes in Atherton’s version too, one restaurant after the other, all special, or in the one of Brett Graham, only one fine dining location where to count the pounds cashed at the end of the night, in the same place, in London.

 

This multi-faceted world is indeed beautiful. Marchi likes the graceful approach of Antonia Klugmann. Then other moments, «for sure Davide Scabin cooking pasta in a pressure cooker». The performance of the chef from Rivoli recalls sections that are increasingly fertile within Identità Milano, dedicated to pasta and pizza: rooms overflowing with guests, lectures overflowing with ideas based on the utmost Italian dishes, «confirming that the evolution is constant, there’s no stop. The story of the torta d'erbi in Lunigiana comes to my mind. At some point someone added a little cheese, which the traditional version did not include... People cried heresy. Except with cheese it is much, much tastier. So what should one do: respect a dogma or improve, evolve?».

 

Identità is a space for discussion, boundless interchange, where you find the guys from Masterchef as well as Master Marchesi, night and day sensing each other. Soon we will play in the fields of Expo, but Ceroni has the duty/pleasure of speaking about other steps along the way: Identità New York, sixth edition, 1st-3rd October; Chicago, second edition, 6-7th October. And the new Identità Future, in partnership with Host, on 23rd-27th October - the last month of Identità Expo too -  which will be the seal of a year that appears to be 100% Identità Golose.

 

ALL THE REPORTS FROM IDENTITA' MILANO 2015

Tuesday 10th February
Auditorium, afternoon (Dossier Dessert) by Sonia Gioia
Auditorium, morning (Veneto) by Alessandra Meldolesi
Identità di pasta by Carlo Passera
Identità estreme by Andrea Cuomo
Expo area, afternoon by Cecilia Todeschini
Expo area, morning by Cecilia Todeschini
Newsletter: all the prizes

Monday 9th February
Auditorium, afternoon by Alessandra Meldolesi
Auditorium, morning by Andrea Cuomo
Identità di pane e pizza by Carlo Passera and Luciana Squadrilli
Identità piccanti by Sonia Gioia
Milano Food&Wine Festival, day 3 by Luciana Squadrilli
Expo area, afternoon by Cecilia Todeschini
Expo area, morning by Cecilia Todeschini

Sunday 8th February
Auditorium, afternoon by Alessandra Meldolesi
Auditorium, morning by Carlo Passera
Identità Naturali by Luciana Squadrilli
Identità di montagna by Andrea Cuomo
Milano Food&Wine Festival, day 2 by Sonia Gioia
Expo area, afternoon by Cecilia Todeschini
Expo area, morning by Cecilia Todeschini

Saturday 7th February
Milano Food&Wine Festival, day 1 by Gabriele Zanatta