You’ve worked in some of London’s most acclaimed kitchens – from Club Gascon to The Greenhouse. What drew you to Galvin La Chapelle at this point in your career?
I still felt the need to challenge myself and I knew that Galvin La Chapelle would be a great place to do this. It was an amazing opportunity to work with the Galvin Brothers and they gave me so much trust in creating my own menu and having creative freedom that I knew this was the best next step for me.
How has your Italian upbringing in Venice and Brescia shaped the way you cook today and do you remember the first dish you cooked?
I had so many amazing opportunities in Italy, working with chefs that soon became my mentors. Both had trained in French cuisine in 2 and 3 star restaurants so it set me up perfectly to continue my career in London.
I remember cooking at home with my mother aged around 15, I remember making Crème Parmentier which is a potato cream, with pancetta and leeks. It brings back amazing memories of home
What was the biggest lesson you took from working under Michelin-starred chefs in London?
Working under Michelin-starred chefs in London has not only taught me how to perfect my craft but how to manage a kitchen, a high standard of team members and how to execute dishes to an extremely high standard. It also taught me what life in a kitchen is really like and the pressure that comes with that.
Your new menu at Galvin La Chapelle celebrates Mediterranean flavours. What ingredients or dishes are you most excited for guests to discover?
I am really excited about the entire menu but some dishes that I can’t wait for guests to try is our new Bao Bun, it’s made with veal ossobuco and bottarga & I have drawn from an Italian dish with the same elements and flavours.
The scallops is an amazing new dish, a crudo dish using beautiful Scottish scallops and served with cobnut and buddhas hand.
Finally, our venison dish, we’ve added baeeri caviar and bagna cauda – we have created an amazing combination of flavours.
I am now cooking a lot more dishes over fire, which gives it an extra depth of flavour and umami.
How do you balance innovation with the restaurant’s classic heritage?
We aren’t messing around with our dishes, making sure the ingredients we use are of the absolute highest quality and letting them shine. We are adding our twist to the dishes but keeping the same care, respect and classic flavours. We are allowing the produce to keep their identity.
The menu has a strong sharing focus – how important is that sense of convivial dining to you?
I wanted to introduce large cuts to the menu, and we saw it as a great opportunity for guests to share. We wanted guests to relax and not be limited to a formal 3 course menu but really get stuck in and dine as they wish.
Galvin La Chapelle sits in the heart of Spitalfields – what do you love most about the East London food scene?
East London is modern and has an easy-going feeling to the dining experience. I feel it’s a buzzing, young and exciting area which has great affordable options.
Do you have any favourite food markets, cafés or hidden gems in East London that inspire you outside the kitchen?
I love going to Rogues, co-owner Zac is a friend and Galvin alum. They have such great ideas, and the dishes are always amazing.
I also think Brat is great it has a great buzz & I love the ‘over charcoal’ cooking.
When you’re not in the kitchen, what’s your go-to comfort dish to cook at home?
Pasta of course! – tomato amatriciana, a recipe from Rome. I also love a truffle and mushroom risotto.
If you could host a dream dinner party, who would be your three guests – and what would you serve them?
It would have to be my wife-to-be! She has a huge influence on everything I cook and she is always very honest, which can be a good or bad thing.
Then it would be Chef Alain Ducasse, to me he is a god! It would be an absolute honour.
Finally, my childhood friend who I haven’t seen in a long time since he moved to Germany. He was there at my first kitchen job and he is more like a brother to me. He means a lot to me and I have a lot of respect for him, not just as a chef but a friend.
If my wife-to-be can’t make it, it would be Scarlett Johansson!
I would make them my crab raviolo to start, a beef fillet Rossini with a red wine jus finished with a chocolate Rocher filled with clementine and pistachio.
READ THIS ISSUE OF BEAST MAGAZINE
Tag us with your copy of Beast magazine @beastmag_london on Instagram