10-12-2015
The placard at Seta inside the Mandarin Oriental hotel, with double entrance from Via Andegari 9 and Via Monte di Pietà 18 in Milan, tel. +39.02.87318897. Opened last August, the restaurant of Apulian Antonio Guida has just received, with record timing, the first Michelin star (content and photos by Sonia Gioia)
The metaphysical-renaissance ceramics by Fornasetti. The retro design of the foyer. The elegant politeness of extras, main characters and scene directors, trained in the acrobatic art of hospitality, at number 18 in Via Monte di Pietà. The very young and broad-shouldered dining room director, Alberto Tasinato. And then the backstage, where the stoves at Seta are burning. This restaurant, over just a few months, has shuffled the cards, redesigning the hierarchy of the Milanese culinary empire. On the way back towards the second star, one needs to start with one, moving further with unfaltering steps. This is clear. In the orchestra of master Antonio Guida there are 36 parts, some of which have been beside him for 15 years, such as Federico Dellomarino and Nicola Di Lena, the sous and the pastry-chef. There are few loves as enduring as these, but perhaps this is also the secret of millimetre perfect timing devices like this one.
No, cooks are no artists. This is what «mister 20/20» Massimo Bottura said: “We have the good and the healthy, but not the art”. It is true, so true. Yet surely in kitchens such as this one the line between craftsmanship and creation is very thin. With the simplicity of those who don’t forget that you work in the kitchen to prepare food: the portions served at Seta are rich, and right beside the only small size windows of Via Montenapoleone. The latter are très chic, especially when looking at them from the other side. From here. From inside. This is where this reportage starts from.
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A journalist by profession, curious by vocation, she applies her attitude to investigative reports and food features. She's author for Repubblica, Gambero Rosso, Dispensa