Ugo Alciati
crediti: Brambilla - Serrani
He was born in the restaurant, so to speak. “Playing” at the age of 9, with his mother Lidia, in the kitchens of Guido, the family restaurant that had an important role in the history of Italian modern cuisine, Ugo Alciatiwas predestined. Theirs was a lighthouse of concepts still scarcely trendy at the time – highest quality of product, valorization of the territory, but also the idea of a restaurant being an experience to be perceived by its clients, a place of training – the restaurant in Costigliole d’Asti in which Ugostarted to work “full-time” around the age of 15 (never to stop again) has given him, as well as his brothers Andreaand Piero, a profound imprinting.
Having moved to Pollenzo in 2003, in the Agenziawhich accommodates the Banca del Vinoand the University of Gastronomic Sciences, Ugo, together with Piero - who always manages the dining hall and the cellar beside the chef - moved a secontime in summer 2013 in the Oscar Farinetti's feud of Tenuta Fontanafredda, 85 beautiful hectares of nebbiolo, barbera, dolcetto and moscato grapes. Here he continues the beautiful history of one of the most significant families in Italian fine dining.
His cuisine is profoundly tied to local produce (about 90% of which is Piedmontese) but not classically “traditional”, with reference to techniques and ideas. Dishes like Carnaroli rice with Piedmontese ricotta and anchovies or Cardi gobbi di Nizza Monferrato – a local variety of cardoon – with pears and anchovies combine traditional Piedmontese products (yes, anchovies are typical indeed!) with a creative design. This, however, is no de-structured cuisine, nor is it techno-emotional or modernist: Ugo– who actually started as pastry chef in the family kitchens, having a passion for the analytics, the measure and precision of preparations – uses and appreciates technology as an instrument that can improve preservation and work, but he's not interested in its “spectacular” side.
He's a chef, not an artist. Better still, he's a caterer-chef as in the past few years the dynamic team has begun to collaborate with the Eatalygroup both in the management of many restaurants in the stores, and in specific projects like gelateira Lait.
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