Andrea Canton

Andrea Canton is the heir to a family of restaurant owners from Pordenone, proprietors of an inn which has been operating since 1875. Class of 1961, in 2008 he celebrated his silver wedding with the Michelin star which was assigned in 1983 to his restaurant, La Primula, in San Quirino, not far from Pordenone. The restaurant has borne the same name since 1952, when it was opened by Andrea’s father. It’s now full of sculptures and valuable paintings and it looks to the cuisine of its territory without denying reflections on the requalification of local products with intelligent cooking methods. In other words, many of the recipes are those used a hundred years ago, but restructured and, in some cases, destructured. One such case is his gubana, which has been transformed from a soft cake to a spoon dessert. The interesting thing is that the very elegant restaurant is still accompanied by the old inn, with quicker, less elaborate dishes.

Canton is a specialist in cooking with phosphor (not literally, of course). To gain a better understanding, you need to taste his steam-cooked smooth clam and razor clam soup. The result is that it feels like you’re eating on the seashore, as though a sea breeze is caressing your face. We ought to take a step backwards. Canton hasn’t always been linked to Pordenone – far from it in fact. He spent some time in Gualtiero Marchesi's kitchen when he was almost 17. But it was the right time, because he arrived just when nouvelle cuisine was enjoying its brief but electrifying peak of popularity. He spent a year there before moving to San Domenico in Imola, just so that nothing was left to chance. Years of training to acquire all the techniques and apply them to that mainly fish based cuisine that characterises Primula today.

In his kitchen, Canton prefers larger portions than most high-level restaurants, and taste never takes a backseat in favour of presentation. A dish definitely worth trying is the traditional Cjalsons with wild herbs and crispy bacon. And soups, rice and pasta dishes are his passion «because they are open to countless pairing opportunities». Clever cuisine, no two ways about it. It’s worth the trip to San Quirino.