Massimo Bottura, banner-icon of Italian cuisine, considered the number two in Europe of great chefs, with his "Osteria Francescana di Modena" always remains at the top. But the Gambero Rosso restaurant guide, directed by Giancarlo Perrotta, presented today in Rome, joins them on the podium no. 1 another icon of great Italian catering, Heinz Beck, the indestructible Teutonic (now naturalized Italian) patron of “La Pergola” of the Rome Cavalieri – Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (formerly Hilton) where since 2005 it can boast three stars and five Michelin forks.
These two sacred monsters, and not from today, lead the small group (26) of the top chefs of national catering who have been awarded the three forks, the maximum rating of the Gambero Rosso guide, with a score of 95/100. A step below, with 94/100, two other great chefs who have marked the history and the present - rebirth and revenge - of Neapolitan cuisine on the consolidated cuisines of the north and on the pompous international cuisines are firmly placed: Alfonso Iaccarino, of "Don Alfonso 1890 ” in Sant'Agata sui due Golfi and Gennaro Esposito of the “Torre del Saracino” in Vico Equense.
Third podium with 93/100 for Le Calandre di Rubano (PD) by Massimiliano Alajmo, for Pino Cuttaia Chef-poet of the land and its traditions, patron of "La Madia" in Licata (AG), for Antonino Cannavacciuolo, now TV star , of Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio and for Gianfranco Vissani for the Baschi restaurant. Following with 92/100 the Guide awards with three forks the restaurants "Laite" in Sappada (BL), "Lorenzo" in Forte dei Marmi, "Dal Pescatore" in Canneto sull'Oglio, "Reale" in Castel di Sangro, " St. Hubertus” of the Hotel Rosa Alpina in San Cassiano (BZ) and Uliassi in Senigallia.
Immediately after with 91/100 are placed "Devero Ristorante" of Cavenago di Brianza (MB), "La Madonnina del Pescatore" of Senigallia (AN), "La Trota" of Rivodutri (RI), Ilario Vinciguerra Restaurant of Gallarate (VA) , "Da Vittorio" of Brusaporto (BG). It will be the driving force of the Expo that pushed Milanese catering upwards but the new entries of the 90/100 share of the three forks are Milanese, they are Andrea Berton and Antonio Guida of the "Seta Mandarin Oriental", to whom alongside the "Poor devil" of Poggio Torriana (RN), "Romano" of Viareggio (LU), "S'Apossentu di Casa Pubddu" of Siddi (VS), and the "Enoteca La Torre" at Villa Laetitia in Rome.
Geographically, Lombardy remains the record holder of high-class Italian good food, asserting that it has been awarded six Tre Forchette and the same number of Tre Gamberi, the latter being an expression of the best traditional cuisine. Even the "family" of trattorias, places where family hospitality and food of the past mark a style that never sets, to which Gambero Rosso pays particular attention, is enriched by three members: La "Brinca" of Ne (GE), " At the Osteria Bottega” in Bologna and the “Tana degli Orsi” in Pratovecchio Stia (AR).
The guide also paid attention to ethnic cuisine with the "Tre Mappamondi" award, which indicates the ethnic tables not to be missed: this year the Milanese Wicky's Wicuisine Seafood was crowned for the first time, which joins the Iyo, always of Milan, and at the Dao Restaurant in Rome, while the Tre Boccali are confirmed as temples of brewing culture such as the Baladin "houses" of Piozzo (CN) and Rome. The guide confirms its vocation of "service" sensitive to current trends but attentive to the classics and their evolutions. Hence the birth of new categories - bistros, grills and vegetarians - to underline and enhance every aspect of the complex "machine" of catering.
Finally two mentions: the Award to Lorenzo Viani, of "Lorenzo" in Forte dei Marmi (LU), as Restaurateur of the year, "key figure of every solid and long-lived reality"; and the one at l'Argine a Vencò, in Dolegna del Collio (GO), as Novelty of the year emblematic of a virtuous trail of all-round projects dedicated to the rediscovery of the territory and the self-made. Gennaro Esposito, from Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense (NA), with a score of 360 rooms among the four best cooking marks assigned by the guide, alongside Massimo Bottura from Osteria Francescana in Modena, Massimiliano Alajmo from Le Calandre di Rubano ( PD) and Pino Cuttaia of La Madia di Licata (AG). Growth also for Mauro Uliassi, from the restaurant of the same name in Senigallia (AN). Furthermore, 57 prizes for the best quality/price ratio, scattered throughout Italy with a brace from Puglia, La Bul from Bari and La Strega from Palagianello (TA). In total, the Gambero Rosso Guide records 16 addresses of restaurants, trattorias, wine bars, breweries and ethnic venues and 2268 novelties.
