Enrico Panero

Enrico Panero is Piedmontese, from Savigliano in the province of Cuneo, where he was born in January 1987. So when, on the 5th February 2012 he will walk on the stage of Identità for the first time, he will have just turned 25. Quite young, but he's managed to fill his life with a sound and intelligent experience from the lowest ranks, solid, made of actions more than words, not just pointless chit-chat.

If someday, and this joke's not mine, we will celebrate Identità d'Alta Quota (Identità flying-high, TN) he will be there: like Berton,Taglienti, the Colleoni brothers, Alajmo, Passalacqua… Enrico is also almost 6.6 ft tall, which forces most people to look up, when talking with him, and discover that, hush hush, he's already acquired a solid apprenticeship, especially with regards to the understanding of raw materials and tradition, starting from the foundations and gradually reaching higher levels, where the horizon finally widens and adding a personal touch to what he's learnt comes natural.

After finishing his studies at the Istituto Alberghiero G. Donadio in Dronero, in the province of Cuneo, he moved to Borgomanero in the Novara area, to work at Pinocchio's, that is at Piero Bertinotti's («Piero is fantastic») and then at Aimo and Nadia Moroni's, in Milan, a magical place for those who want to know all about products. Same goes in 2006, when he's at Ugo Alciati's Guido in Pollenzo. After a flying visit to Lanzarote at the restaurant Isla de Lobos guided by Denis Cappellino, in 2007 Panero, by then aged 20, embarks the journey on which he's still today. Oscar Farinetti opens the first of all the Eataly stores in Turin and Enrico is in the kitchen staff of GuidoperEataly – Casa Vicina.

Eataly Tokyo and Eataly New York will follow, as well as a stop in the kitchen of Mark Ladner in Manhattan, at the Del Posto restaurant, and in that of Victor Arguinzoniz at the Asador Etxebarri, in the little village of Atxondo, near Bilbao: «The experience at Victor's has changed my life, because of the “simplicity” with which he works his raw materials». Please note that in this case, “simplicity” means “essentiality”, it's a synonym of pureness, the same he's searching in his dishes, now he's the executive chef at Da Vinci, the place of refreshment at Eataly Firenze.