Errico Recanati

Italy too has her Victor Arguinzoniz, perhaps less world famous than the Basque chef who has brought grills to the finest levels, but for sure equally deserving of attention. The author of a remarkable career. His starting point was the family restaurant, a historic place (established in 1959) for those who wanted to eat seafood midway between the Adriatic coast and the sanctuary of Loreto. This used to be the kingdom of Andreina, after whom the restaurant is named; and so his grandson Errico Recanati, born in 1973, was raised here, following the steps of his grandmother and then his mother, Ave, what with spits, game, embers and fire.

Then, of course he didn't stop there. He attended the Etoile Academy, did an internship at Gianfranco Vissani's, Pietro Leemann's and at Martin Dalsass's e al ristorante Talvo... In other words he enriched his knowledge which he then poured into one basic idea: give a contemporary and fine dining appearance to his restaurant Andreina without changing its original identity; in fact, that's exactly where he started from - in a journey of slow, personal and organic, original evolution – to present something unique, a perfect fusion of history, with its ancient flavours, and of a modern creative research. In other words: raw and authentic, a traditional soul transferred into our days. Some called it neo-rural.

Andreina, one Michelin star since 2013, is now for sure not just chargrill, because Recanati has bright ideas that go far beyond, like his bottarga of lamb heart or spleen (the Scampi, bottarga of lamb heart, trout roe and mango are spectacular). Or the wise and not trend-seeker use of entrails and game. Even vegetables, disproving an exclusively carnivore fame. For sure, even oysters end up on the embers, in his L'ostrica si dà le arie di brace, one of the most convincing versions I've ever tasted. And then, the Spaghetti cooked on the embers, pepe e cacio simply worthy of ending up in cookbooks.