Cristoforo Trapani was born in 1988 in Piano di Sorrento (Naples) in Campania. He’s young but in just a handful of years spent in the kitchen, he’s already acquired some very important experience. Are Heinz Beck, Antonino Cannavacciuolo, Moreno Cedroni, Davide Scabin, Mauro Colagreco enough? Having spent shorter or longer periods in the kitchens of these great interpreters of gastronomy, Cristoforo acquired the necessary tools to make his leap.
Yet even now, as he runs a starred restaurant, he wants to learn some more, making use of the months when Magnolia dell’Hotel Byron in Forte dei Marmi is closed. So he travels and sees other masters, such as his recent visit to Yannick Alléno.
In Versilia he arrived following an input of a dear friend, who created a contact with the owner of Hotel Byron Salvatore Madonna. Madonna visited him at restaurant Piazzetta Milù, in Castellamare di Stabia, where Trapani was chef. They immediately liked each other and the chef from Campania, once in Forte dei Marmi, satisfied the expectations, and confirmed the Michelin star Magnolia already had.
The happy experience in Tuscany didn’t make him forget his very strong connection with his homeland. In fact, right from the first day, he tried to mix his roots with the tradition of the region where he lives now. Thanks also to his mother Felicia, a greengrocer whose vegetables Cristiano has delivered to Tuscany, to preserve those aromas in his dishes. It’s no surprise that among the desserts there’s a dish such as Lemon from Sorrento and fior di latte, cardamom and liquorice.
Plus pasta, especially dry pasta, is a main feature in his cuisine: «I’m very passionate about it. So much so I dedicated an entire menu to pasta, from starter to dessert. I like every format, almost equally, but perhaps the type I find most stimulating is rigatoni, which I made into a dessert in 2015: crispy, with tomato, with buffalo milk mousse and basil and a soufflé made with pastiera».
