The Future is now: the new section at Identità Milano will debut on Sunday 26th September

Less than three weeks: this is how long we need to wait to cut the ribbon of the sixteenth edition of Identità Milano, the congress which, for sadly well-known reasons, we had to wait for much more than would have been appropriate. The event will take place from the 25th to the 27th of September 2021 at MiCo in Milan, having as its fil rouge the theme of Building a New Future: Work. As perhaps you have already read on our website these days, there will be many classic sections at the congress this year (you can read the complete programme here).

But there will also be a brand-new section, that is strongly inspired by the concept of novelty, and on a Future to be built focusing on the crucial role of work. The section will be titled The Future is now and will take place on Sunday 26th September in Sala Blu 1 at MiCo. 

Paolo Marchi, creator and curator of Identità Golose, tells us about the idea that led him to include this section in the programme of the 16th edition.

«We're very proud of having given shape to this programme that we called The Future is today, which has never been as current as in this unhappy time. We're proud of every section of the congress, in fact, but it's clear that there can be some excellent stories that deserve to be told, and yet don't fall in the usual categories, like pizza, gelato or pasta. So what should we do? Be creative, and not even too much. There have always been establishments that were difficult to label, so it's good that Identità finds new categories, for those stories that have the aroma of novelty, and which in the middle of the pandemic made a significant step forward, taking some entrepreneurial risks that must be acknowledged and respected. Which isn't simply about opening a new place, something that didn't exist before. We looked for places that also had content that was ahead of its time».

Here are the speakers of this new section.

We start at 10.30 am with a very rich pair, with the chef of the historic, yet renewed, restaurant Del Cambio in Torino, Matteo Baronetto. With him, there will also be pastry chef Maicol Vitellozzi, who's also responsible for the cakes you can find in the lovely and neighbouring Farmacia Del Cambio: the lesson will focus on breakfast, and not just because it's at a very suitable time, but also thanks to the partnership with Lavazza, so that this will also offer the chance to present the new projects of the most historic and prestigious coffee brand in Italy.  

It will then be the turn of the two chefs who signed the emblem dish of Identità Milano, Matias Perdomo and Simon Press, of restaurant Contraste in Milan. In this article (Build a New Future: Work. Matias Perdomo and Simon Press sign the emblem dish of Identità Milano) you can read the story of that dish, while in this interview by Gabriele Zanatta (Matias Perdomo: «The only creativity that matters is having your budget in order») you'll find the ideas, not at all banal and very interesting, of Perdomo on the fil rouge of Identità Milano 2021. The team at Contraste has presented plenty of novelties and new projects, that look far ahead, over the past few months.

Before the lunch break, we will talk about two concepts that are often ill-used, and instead we will rely on the words of three very passionate interpreters of these two words, Territory and tradition. Errico Recanati, from restaurant Andreina in Loreto (Marche), Roman Roberto Campitelli from Osteria di Monteverde in Rome, Francesco Pompetti, from Impastatori Pompetti in Roseto degli Abruzzi (Abruzzo). Three chefs representing three different restaurant formats – fine dining, osteria and pizzeria – who will discuss the real meaning of "cooking" territory and tradition. This lesson will take place in partnership with Birra del Borgo, which will pair a beer with each dish. 

In the afternoon we will talk again of territory, but with a special focus on Lombardy. The speakers will be Gianni Tarabini from Valtellina, who with his great experience is at the helm of starred restaurant La Présef de La Fiorida in Mantello, and Milanese Cesare Battisti, chef at Ratanà and a great old friend of Identità Golose.

We continue with a restaurant that has drastically and wisely renewed itself in the past few months: we're back in Rome with Marzapane, with the young and talented chefs Francesco Capuzzo Dolcetta and Guglielmo Chiarapini, who will be on stage with patron Mario Sansone, who's the dining room manager. 

Gabriele Zanatta had celebrated the next chef a few weeks ago, when he was guest chef at Identità Golose Milano: È nata una stella: Alberto Quadrio da Gattinara. The young chef from Piedmont is at the helm of the kitchen of a restaurant inside a new, ambitious and top level project, which started when in 2018 a giant from Monforte in the Langhe, winery Giacomo Conterno that is to say Roberto Conterno, bought Cantine Nervi, the first winery to be opened in Gattinara. This year the restaurant format has also debuted, called Cucine Nervi. 

And then again, to finish a content-rich day, two very talented chefs will discuss on stage: namely Davide Di Fabio (for many years Massimo Bottura's second) and Jacopo Malpeli (young but with a sound experience in many establishments mostly focused on tradition). They share the same patrons, Marco Bizzarri [Mr. Gucci, that is] and his son Stefano, who in these months have renewed two old places to create two brand-new establishments. Dalla Gioconda in Gabicce Monte for Davide Di Fabio and Osteria del Viandante in Rubiera for Jacopo Malpeli. 

 

HERE IS THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME OF IDENTITÀ MILANO 2021

TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE AND FOLLOW THE INSCTRUCTIONS

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso