Vito Mollica

Vito Mollica’s job has an extremely long history: as a child, he would admire his mother as she cooked specialties from Basilicata. He’s originally from Avigliano, Potenza. He was born there in 1971 but 6 years later his parents moved to Origgio, Varese. The heritage of great products, however, remained, and this young man immediately translated them into an important and non-banal motto: «Be it salami made with cinta senese or free range hens, you always need to know the people behind a product».

A veteran of the Four Seasons, Mollica first began to work for a restaurant of the large hotel group in Milan, in 1996. Four years later he moved to Prague, in the Czech Republic, in 2000. In 2007 he returned to Italy, to Florence. Today he recalls: «I immediately found a paradise full of perfection: art, history, cuisine. It is a calm and cosmopolite city and we can easily go either to the sea and to the mountains». In November 2011 restaurant Il Palagio of the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence received the first Michelin star and two years later he received the award for Dish of the Year from Guida dell’Espresso: Cacio e pepe cavatelli with red prawns and small calamari. In 2014 he was chef of the year according to the restaurant guide of Il Sole 24 Ore.

In May 2015 he got a double job: on top of the restaurant in Florence, he also guides the restaurant of the Four Seasons in Milan. As for this return to the Milanese metropolis he said «I’m very happy, especially because I’m the heir of a great master such as Sergio Mei», the chef who was there for decades before him. Mollica constantly visits regional markets and the Tuscan countryside, in search for independent producers who share his passion for quality. His «attention in the production of ingredients», he says on his official profile, is mirrored in the palate. The simpler the preparation of the ingredients, the easier it is to amplify their flavours». For more details on his ideas, we recommend “Vito Mollica. Invito a cena al Palagio di Firenze”, written with Aldo Fiordelli (Trenta editore).