In the swamp of suffering in the restaurant world caused by the pandemic, positive signs are beginning to be seen, at least encouraging and hopeful of a new scenario in which Italian restaurateurs can believe for the future.
The presentation of the next edition of the Milan Wine Week, scheduled from 3 to 11 October with which the machine of Milanese events will officially get back on track after the break imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, offered the starting point for a thoughtful reflection on the state of the sector that can aim to build a new constructive future rather than abandoning itself to a pessimism that certainly does not produce anything good.
Wine producers and great protagonists of Italian cuisine are willing to join forces to revive the fortunes of their respective sectors and the recovery starts from Milan, a city which, especially in the last ten years, has been the undisputed capital of food and wine also at an international level.
The front of the positivists was opened by Moreno Cedroni, two Michelin stars, patron of "La Madonnina del Pescatore", a great Chef who revolutionized the way of cooking fish in Italy by playing on irony, innovation and provocation.
“In Senigallia – declared Cedroni – we got off to a good start. We have not seen a drop in work and this means that where there is a qualified gastronomic offer, there is tourism. We are now in a happy situation that has led us to be a point of reference not only locally. Let's hope that the Government wants to give an important signal in terms of infrastructure by boosting high-speed rail and planning a new airport.
However, it is important that Milan also restarts seriously and, in this sense, the Milan Wine Week in October, in a year in which all sector fairs have been cancelled, will be an unmissable opportunity to taste wines in their moment of maturity and , for us chefs, to combine foods that can duet perfectly with them”.
No less inspiring confidence in the future of the category is the speech by Davide Oldani, Chef of D'O in Cornaredo, the creator of the Pop cuisine, one Michelin star, one of the 50 ambassador chefs of Italian cuisine in the world.
David Oldani
“Rather than a restart - says Davide Oldani - it would be appropriate to talk about a new start. As with Expo 2015, there will be a before and after Covid for the world of food. However, I believe that healthy companies, which have at least 35-40 years of work behind them and have continued to sow seeds correctly, making sacrifices, saving money and always operating altruistically, at some point they will be able to come out of it. My Milan is a city that has always used the right speeds and I agree that it has the intelligence to slow down, which doesn't mean stopping, and then pick up again. As for the world of events and catering, I think this possibility of change dictated by the health emergency should be taken very seriously, for which reducing numbers can also lead to an increase in quality and make the messages that you want to get across more effective" .
A wave of positivity and confidence also comes from Alessandro Negrini, multi-starred chef of Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia“, awarded in 2014 by Identità Golose, as “Best Chef” of the year and at the same time joined the Relais&Chateaux association and of the prestigious association of Les Grandes Tables du Monde: “We believe in a strong recovery in 2021. We are convinced that Milan is one of the most affected metropolitan cities in Italy, but also that it will be one of the first to recover. This is the time when Italian entrepreneurs have to stay in Italy and create many events here. Even with new health rules, but starting again is essential ".
Andrea Berton, one of the moral sons of Gualtiero Marchesi, two Michelin stars, EXPO Ambassador in 2015, has always been a proponent of imprinting a radical change on the world of quality cuisine and a supporter of a dynamic approach to catering that does not rest on its laurels. From this point of view, the Nuovo DRY Milano, in Viale Vittorio Veneto 28, anticipated the times of a change that was long awaited but never implemented in depth in recent years.
And today he can say: “The success of my 'restaurant bond' initiative – continues Andrea Berton – is the demonstration that people want to go out and go back to restaurants in safety. We must not stop and let ourselves be penalized by this pandemic which has involved us very strongly. Also at the Sereno, on Lake Como, I have noticed a very strong return from customers, especially Italians, and this bodes well for the economy in our country to start turning quickly again. We also recorded positive feedback at Dry Milano. In the restaurant in Viale Vittorio Veneto we have created a larger dehors because people prefer to stay outdoors. Of course, we no longer have that foreign public that frequented Milan like in other years, but Italians want to go back to restaurants and feel good".
And Eugenio Roncoroni, the talented Chef of “Al Mercato” also follows in this wake. from the concept of gourmet street food, that desire to «do something special even by working on the simplest recipes».
“During the lockdown – says Roncoroni – I rolled up my sleeves and learned to get to know the world of delivery better, which later proved to be my salvation not only from an economic point of view, but also from a mental point of view. This experience gave me a great deal of humility and made me reflect on some mistakes I made in the past. Luckily I then met some people with whom we will develop and revive the 'Al Mercato' project in the autumn in a new guise and in a new format characterized by the fusion of the gastronomic restaurant with the burger bar, which needed new life".
In short, there is ample space to restart, and restart successfully, but in restarting you have to believe in it, committing yourself, sacrificing yourself, fighting and above all affirming new ideas. The only ones that can lead the great Italian culinary tradition towards an increasingly competitive future.
"With the Milan Wine Week - says Federico Gordini, the volcanic entrepreneur at the head of the organization - we intend to send the signal of a Milan that restarts from a great excellence such as that of the world of wine, also providing for the massive involvement of clubs and public exercises both in the Wine Districts, each associated with a different consortium, but also in many other areas of Milan. In Piazza San Babila, in particular, a new hub will be built where people will talk about food and wine with a large outdoor kitchen where numerous chefs will take turns”.
