Waiting for Identità Milano 2023: let the revolution begin

Wednesday 18th January 2023. On this day the states-general of Italian fine dining meet again in freedom after years of restrictions, taboos or limitations. Not to celebrate who knows what, but to focus on the content to be explored in 10 days' time at MiCo in Via Gattamelata, the venue of the 18th edition of the Identità Milano Congress.

This year's theme is 'Ladies and gentlemen, the revolution is served', a fil rouge and a programme that was discussed for almost two hours at the press conference with the curators, restaurateurs and emblem-chefs of the congress, journalists, producers, and partners. Many irons in the fire, presented by Fabrizio Nonis, butcher/host and moderator of the day. Here is a summary of the talks and the essential points.

The first considerations come from Paolo Marchi, founder and curator of Identità: “We have given this year's edition this headline because the world is changing rapidly and we all must devote more attention to change than ever. We will have great international guests - Alex Atala, Albert Adrià or Andoni Luis Aduriz, Leo Espinosa, Angel Leon, Paco Morales, Chef Binta... - because the best ideas are born by addressing the world. It happens in conditions of peace and prosperity, and even more so now, in times of pandemic and war. We must urgently think of ideas that 15 years ago did not exist.”

"The last time we organised a conference 10 days before the congress," adds Claudio Ceroni, founder of MagentaBureau and Identità Golose, "was in 2019. We have returned to that format because never before have we had so many novelties as this year. Revolution is in the order of things: whether we’re immersed in it or overwhelmed by it, it will inevitably generate mistakes, but above all, it’s a great opportunity to change the nature of things as we have always thought of them. And this will also apply to us, starting with the new sets you will find at MiCo. The revolution is not only about the food but also about everything around it'.

After that, he thanks the 18th edition's partners: "And it is not a customary thank you because, while we were deprived of conviviality, they were always there for us. So thanks to the main sponsors 2023: Acqua Panna and S.Pellegrino, 1895 by Lavazza Coffee Designers, Berto's, Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano, Fondazione Cotarella, Velier and Billecart-Salmon. To the medium sponsors Bibite S.Pellegrino and Perrier, Monograno Felicetti, Petra/Molino Quaglia, Moretti Forni, Veuve Cliquot, Latteria Sorrentina and Belmond. Finally, thanks to the institutions: Regione Lombardia, Comune di Milano and Regione Calabria.

The revolution is served, then. Davide Rampello defines its meaning: 'Revolution. We have the October Revolution, the French Revolution, but also the Earth Revolution, which is a rotation that returns to the same point. A motion that is not so revolutionary, after all. I also really like the invitation, 'ladies and gentlemen', a subtle irony that recalls the very Italian expression 'dinner is served'". Then comes the turn of Alessia Cappello, Councillor for Economic Development (and many other delegations) at Comune di Milano: “The restaurant industry has a prominent role in the country's recovery. And of our city, along with fashion and design. It is important for politics to have a vision, but without you artisans it would be an empty vision. We will always be close to chefs and restaurateurs.”

On with the content. Paolo Marchi talks about this year’s signature dish, Avocado, kiwi, coriander by Carlo Cracco: “It is certainly a revolutionary dish for two reasons: until a few years ago, kiwi did not grow in Italy; today we are the leading producer in the world. Ditto for avocados: today, the finest avocados grow in Sicily - like mangoes or papayas - a fact unthinkable in the previous millennium. It is therefore a non-Italian dish in its roots but Italian in its ingredients. And finally, it is a vegetable dish, a crucial food genre of our time.”

Word to Massimo Bottura, author of two lectures this year: “I am very happy to be on stage with Giorgio Locatelli to talk about culture,” reveals the chef from Modena. 'Among other things, he is best friends with artist Damien Hirst because when they were young and penniless, they shared a flat in London. I will be very happy to be there with him and with David Gelb and Brian McGinn, the minds behind the Netflix series "Chef's Table". Locatelli is a great supporter of the London Refettorio, like Rampello, who played a decisive role in the birth of the Milan Refettorio, in 2015. Seven years later, we have served over 2.5 million meals, recovering 950 tonnes of food and involving 105 thousand chefs and volunteers from all over the world.” Applause from the hall.

While Marchi rattles off all the lessons of the three days between one speaker and another ("Planet Farms, Faith Willinger, the fire of Jessica Rosval and Errico Recanati..."), here is Andrea Aprea, author of one of the most praised new openings in Milan: "To get to this result, I had to go through an inner revolution," explains the Neapolitan chef, "that is to say, to abandon the certainties of my previous work. One who always puts himself on the line is also Enrico Bartolini, the most-starred chef ever in Italy: “I would like to reaffirm my pride in being Italian. And to thank Bottura for making us more famous in the world. Actually, we have been making a cultural revolution in our cuisine for years. Now I would like it to also touch the institutions, for example with new Ateco codes [more on this here]”. At Identità Golose, Bartolini will bring on stage Michele Cobuzzi, newly-starred at restaurant Anima.

Speaking of new personalities in Milanese cuisine, there’s Guido Paternollo, an engineer struck by cooking, now at the Park Hyatt Hotel restaurant: "Before this job," explained his Pygmalion Enrico Bartolini, "he worked at Ducati. I wanted him because I could see he would go fast.”

In the last part of the conference, Claudio Ceroni and Cinzia Benzi summed up the many things that remained to be said about the congress: the important accent on Bergamo and Brescia Italian Capitals of Culture 2023 with Alberto Gipponi, also among the illustrious group of chefs; the new Spazio Arena with many interesting debates, also related to eating disorders, curated by the Cotarella Foundation, represented by Enrica Cotarella (read the programme here); Identità Milano as the stage for the Italian final of the San Pellegrino Young Chef competition ("We are very happy with this convergence in support of our gastronomy," explained brand manager Camilla Cancellieri), the Identità di Cocktail programme developed by Claudia Orlandi.

Also, the return of Velier with a remote message from its founder Luca Gargano (“We have always been making a revolution”). Veuve Cliquot's approach to the vegetable world, Identità di formaggio with Parmigiano Reggiano, Enrico Berto of Berto's, in Milan for the first time with steam ovens, Michele Cannone and the new coffee philosophy of 1895 by Lavazza, Laura Di Bert and the budding partnership with Belmond Hotels and the support of our Bollicine nel mondo app, Paolo Marchi's thanks to Luca Ferrua and Il Gusto, media partnerships with TGCOM24 and Reporter Gourmet, Italia Squisita and La Cucina Italiana (editor Maddalena Fossati:  “We are still not fully aware of the strength of our cuisine”).

And, almost at the very end, Carlo Cracco arrives: “There is no more apt title than this congress,” concludes the chef from Vicenza, “it is a long and necessary process. Like the vegetable garden we are building, clod by clod, in Romagna.”

THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME OF IDENTITÀ MILANO 2023

 

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso