Times of crisis but also times of fighting desire for resilience and to face the harsh consequences of the pandemic that has hit the country in a positive way. This is the picture of Italian catering that emerges from the Gambero Rosso Restaurant Guide. There are 2650 establishments that appear in the 2021 edition of the Guide, 2650 examples of an Italy that is a great stage for Italian food and wine that represents a key sector of our national GDP.
Very appropriately, given the difficult operating conditions of this year, the Guide does not give marks or analytical evaluations, instead the symbols remain (Forks, Shrimps, Bottles, Globes, Boccalini, Cocotte, from one to three depending on the degree of excellence) such as service to the reader and visibility to those who are trying hard to stay afloat.
But abstaining from grades and failings - write the editors of the Guide - does not prevent taking pictures of the work in progress, and highlighting those who, despite everything, managed to raise the bar anyway. Like the four new big names that conquer the third Forchetta (Vun Andrea Aprea of the Park Hyatt Milan, Il Piccolo Principe of the Grand Hotel Principe di Piemonte in Viareggio, and the Capitoline combo of Glass Hostaria and Imàgo of the Hotel Hassler, or the Trattoria Sarda Armidda in Abbasanta, a project to enhance the area set up just in the last year by Roberto Serra in anticipation of reopening his totally restructured Su Carduleu, a new entry in the guide and in the Tre Gamberi family. room for powerful teamwork, revisiting the past with new stimuli, as Massimo Bottura and Niko Romito did in the two tasting menus that best embody the spirit of these times, and remaining all, at every level and for every category, compact and supportive, shoulder to shoulder, in the certainty of finding themselves better and more united.
The Guide therefore shows another Italy than the nihilistic and negative one we read every day on social media which has now become a mirror of an Italy of complaint and recrimination against everything and everyone. If many could not handle the consequences of the first lockdown, many have in fact rolled up their sleeves and taken advantage of the stop to reinvent the shape - with demanding investments to bring the premises into line with the regulations - and the contents: just think of the simplified menus and the most varied take-away and delivery services, with ad hoc packaging, kits of ingredients to assemble at home, wine and cocktail pairing, dishes specifically designed to be "finished" at home. And there are also those who have decided to throw themselves into the fray and go straight flying high, like Peter Brunel in Arco (awarded as the Novelty of the Year) who in just a few months has given Trentino another jewel of fine dining and design.
A reality - reads the presentation of the Gambero Rosso Guide - which can sometimes appear much more multifaceted than it seemed in "normal" times: the Restaurateur of the year 2021, for example, is not the experienced patron of a local coat of arms, but a steel family/micro-enterprise (Claudio, Marco and Giulia Liu, respectively patron and patroness of Iyo Experience, AALTO – part of Iyo, Iyo Omakase, of Ba and of Gong) of oriental origin but now Milanese to the core, model of a young "fusion" entrepreneurship capable of creating a small empire in the shadow of the Madonnina in a few years. And the best proposal by the glass, to give another example, can be found at Mu dimsum (not surprisingly, also in Milan), demonstrating that the times of clichés are long gone and that today high-profile ethnics offer fine dining experiences from every point of view.
THE 2021 GAMBERO ROSSO GUIDE AWARDS
THREE FORKS
PIEDMONT
Piazza Duomo – Alba (CN)
Villa Crespi – Orta San Giulio (NO)
LOMBARDY
From Vittorio – Brusaporto (BG)
Dal Pescatore – Canneto sull'Oglio (MN)
Miramonti the Other – Concesio (BS)
D'O – Cornaredo [MI]
Lido 84 - Gardone Riviera (BS)
Enrico Bartolini Mudec Restaurant – Milan
Berton – Milan
Cracco – Milan
Silk of the Mandarin Oriental Milan – Milan
Vun Andrea Aprea of the Hotel Park Hyatt Milan – Milan
VENETO
La Peca – Lonigo (VI)
Le Calandre – Rubano (PD)
TRENTINO ALTO ADIGE
St. Hubertus of the Hotel Rosa Alpina – San Cassiano/Sankt Kassian [BZ]
FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA
Laite – Sappada (UD)
To Friends since 1887 – Udine
EMILIA ROMAGNA
Osteria Francescana – Modena
TUSCANY
Pinchiorri Winery – Florence
Lorenzo – Forte dei Marmi (LU)
From Caino - Montemerano (GR)
The Little Prince of the Grand Hotel Principe di Piemonte – Viareggio (LU)
MARCHE
Madonna of the Fisherman – Senigallia (AN)
Uliassi – Senigallia (AN)
UMBRIA
Casa Vissani – Baschi (TR)
LAZIO
Pascucci at the Porticciolo – Fiumicino (RM)
Trout – Rivodutri (RI)
Glass Hostaria – Rome
Imàgo of the Hotel Hassler – Rome
The Clown – Rome
The Pergola of the Hotel Rome Cavalieri – Rome
ABRUZZO
Reale – Castel di Sangro (AQ)
CAMPANIA
Taverna Estia - Brusciano (NA)
Don Alfonso 1890– Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi (NA)
Four Passes – Massa Lubrense (NA)
Torre del Saracino – Vico Equense (NA)
SICILY
La Madia – Licata [AG]
Cathedral – Ragusa
THREE SHRIMPS
Angiolina – Pisciotta (SA)
Antica Osteria del Mirasole with Inn – San Giovanni in Persiceto (BO)
Ancient Flavors – Andria (BT)
Armando at the Pantheon – Rome
Sardinian restaurant Armidda – Abbasanta (OR)
La Brinca – Ne (GE)
From Burde – Florence
To the Hunters – Cavasso Nuovo (PN)
The Shed – Spoleto (PG)
Agriturismo Il Casaletto - Viterbo
From Caesar – Rome
Consortium – Turin
At the Convent – Cetara (SA)
La Crepa Coffee – Dovarese Island (CR)
Ai Due Platani – Parma
Futura Osteria – Monteriggioni (SI)
The Inn of Graces – Curtatone (MN)
La Madia – Brione [BS]
Locanda Mariella – Calestano (PR)
Masseria Barbera – Minervino Murge [BT]
Nerodispia – Trieste
Osteria Ophis – Offida [AP]
At the Osteria Bottega – Bologna
Osteria del Treno – Milan
Pretzhof – Val di Vizze/Pfitsch [BZ]
Sora Maria and Archangel – Olevano Romano [RM]
The Stuzzichino – Massa Lubrense (NA)
Tischi Toschi Taormina – Taormina [ME]
Tripe – Milan
Old Marina – Abruzzi Rose Garden [TE]
Osteria della Villetta since 1900 – Palazzolo sull'Oglio [BS]
Wine and Food – Senigallia (AN)
THREE BOTTLES THE BEST WINE BARS
The Hut – Faenza [RA]
Barnabas – Rome
Bruni Winery – Florence
The Houses of Saracca – Monforte d'Alba [CN]
Del Gatto – Anzio [RM]
At the Donizetti – Bergamo
Marcucci Winery – Pietrasanta [LU]
From Nando – Mortegliano (UD)
Roscioli – Rome
Trimani The Wine Bar – Rome
THREE GLOBALS THE BEST ETHNIC RESTAURANTS
Casaramen – Milan
Iyo Experience – Milan
Wicky's Innovative Japanese Cuisine – Milan
THREE JUGS THE BEST BREWERIES
Baladin Open Garden – Piozzo (CN)
Nidaba - Montebelluna (TV)
Open Baladin – Rome
The Osteria di Birra del Borgo - Rome
THREE COCOTTES THE BEST BISTROTS
I love – Venice
Lanzani Bottega & Bistrot – Brescia
Spazio Niko Romito Bar and Kitchen – Rome
SPECIAL AWARDS
Emerging Chef Alessandro Narducci Award: Emanuele Lecce of La Tavernetta – Spezzano della Sila [CS]
The novelty of the year: Peter Brunel – Arco (TN)
Restaurateur of the year: Iyo Experience
AAlto – part of Iyo
Ba Asian Mood
Gong
Iyo Omakase
Restaurant with the best proposal for pasta dishes: Acqua Pazza – Ponza (LT)
Best bread on the table: Casa Vissani – Baschi (TR)
Tasting menu of the year:
Osteria Francescana – Modena
Reale – Castel di Sangro (AQ)
The pastry chef of the year: Fabrizio Fiorani – The Cathedral – Ragusa
Best proposal by the glass at the restaurant: MU dimsun – Milan
Best spirits card: Achilli Enoteca Al Parlamento – Rome
Room service: Qafiz – Santa Cristina d'Aspromonte (RC)
Best digital communication: Antica Osteria Nonna Rosa – Vico Equense (NA)
Best quality / price ratio:
The Flag – Civitella Casanova [PE]
Del Belbo from Bardon – San Marzano Oliveto [AT]
Exciting – Salerno
Garden – San Lorenzo in Campo [PU]
Maeba – Ariano Irpino [AV]
Mammaròssa – Avezzano [AQ]
Black Pepper – Meadow
Satricvm – Latin
The Tavernetta – Spezzano della Sila [CS]
The Tiglio – Montemonaco [AP
