Approaching his salad with 120 tree and floral essences is like immersing yourself in Botticelli's Primavera, exhibited at the Uffizi: you are enveloped in a blaze of flavours, scents and colors of nature, a leaf for every type of grass, bud, flower or salad, grown in the garden or harvested in the woods, and which follow the perennial rhythms of nature in their seasonal evolution. And, if it is true, as it is true, that in Botticelli's great painting, that triumph of essences and flowers not only responds to aesthetic and chromatic principles but hides various levels of reading, meanings and symbols that the great Florentine artist transmits to the observer his painting, so it is also true that in that salad, apparently so simple in reality, so complex, meditated and built on the balance of the sensations transmitted, Stefano Baiocco, chef crowned with two Michelin stars in the luxurious restaurant of the beautiful Villa Feltrinelli on the bank western part of Lake Garda, contains all its philosophical-gastronomic creed, in a "cuisine that only makes sense if we have someone with whom to share our emotions and who in each dish offers an element capable of stimulating the reflection of those who eat, making them think … a cuisine with light tastes, a spring of sensations, an alchemy of proposals created with great technique and with extraordinary 'love'”.
And to think that this XNUMX-year-old likeable, ironic, tending towards cheerfulness, quick witticisms, but also "stubborn and stubborn with a just ambition - as his partner Olga describes him - capable of adapting to any situation with a spirit of sacrifice, and for this is a good workmate” he thought of everything as a young man except embracing philosophy and much less putting on a white uniform in front of the stove.
“To tell the truth – he recalls – immediately after middle school I had few and also very confused ideas, I decided to do accounting more due to the fact that many friends had chosen that address, than because of my desire to become an accountant. After a year, however, despite my promotion, I understood that this was not going to be my future. A cousin who was already attending the hotel management school told me: why don't you come too? It's a good school and it will definitely find you a job”.
And so he did. He started over. He did his 5 years as a Panzini di Senigallia hotelier and in the summer he went to work in various restaurants between the Marches and the Romagna Riviera.
To tell the truth, even if his youth had passed loitering with his friends without thinking too much about the future, there had been an important presence in the family, his maternal grandfather Umberto, a professional cook, "a figure from the past, with a big belly, proud look that remembered almost the entire Divine Comedy by heart". Stefano was fascinated by his charisma and above all by "his way of dancing between fires and steaming pots!".
And it was in all probability the pride of that grandfather who had entered his blood together with his "stubborn and stubborn" character that guided him in the choices that formed him after the conclusion of the experience at the hotel school, never allowing himself a break and always with the eager desire to know and to get to know each other. These are years in which he is focusing on his goals. The first great experience of his life, in Florence, at the Enoteca Pinchiorri, three Michelin stars without interruption from 2004 to today, after the various restaurants where he had occasionally worked, makes him understand that the world of haute cuisine would become his future. With great modesty and realism today he admits that "every Chef, both from the first trattorias and hotels on the Romagna Riviera to get to the three Michelin stars, have left me something (sometimes the knowledge of a product, sometimes a technique but sometimes even a bruise !! ), and it has always been a formative experience”.
And from that moment on, without sparing energy, he outlines, step by step, an initiatory path that has brought him to Italy and Europe to all the great sanctuaries of great cuisine, the one that makes history, to enter the mysterious and fascinating meanders of culinary art. Let's name a few. After the experience at the Enoteca Pinchiorri, three Michelin stars, here he is taking the first steps of perfecting the technique in the cathedrals of the most elitist cuisine. The first doors he manages to open are those of Alain Ducasse (3 Michelin stars) chef, artist, aesthete, director, screenwriter, set designer, protagonist, supporting actor, even critic and spectator, as he likes to define himself for the obsessive attention to every aspect of his work, from the technique to the research of raw materials, to the recreation of the authentic taste of his products. His cookpot is legendary: seven vegetables (which vary according to seasonality) cooked in a white porcelain pot, for a recipe that combines global and local. And from Ducasse he goes to another French institution, Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant (3 Michelin stars). iconoclastic chef and desecrator of all the conventions of classic French cuisine, who defines himself as "tourné vers demain mais soucieux d'hier", for three years considered in third place among the fifty best restaurants in the world, winner of the Best Chef award in 2015 in the world.
Stefano Baiocco, possessed by the sacred fire of the kitchen, is still not satisfied. His insatiable passion then takes him to Oxford, to Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons (2 Michelin stars), back to Paris to Pascal Barbot's Astrance (3 Michelin stars), to Japan to SeijiYamamoto's Ryugin (3 Michelin stars) and Yoshihiro Murata's Kikunoi (3 Michelin stars). Obviously with the explosion of the great Spanish sciola Baiocco goes as far as Spain, to learn preparations and cooking at Joan Roca's El Celler de Can Roca restaurants (3 Michelin stars) for several years in first place in the ranking of the 50's World best restaurants , Mugaritz by Andoni Luis Aduriz (2 Michelin stars), Dani Garcia (3 Michelin stars), Quique Dacosta (3 Michelin stars), and elBulli by Ferran Adrià (3 Michelin stars) for 4 years awarded as the best restaurant in the world, defined the father of molecular cuisine. With him Stefano Baiocco further increases his inspiration and refines his talent.
Finally, after having explored everything that is possible to explore in world haute cuisine and after a visit to Italy at the Rosellinis Restaurant (2 Michelin stars) in Palazzo Sasso in Ravello on the Amalfi coast, here he is finally arriving at the restaurant of the Hotel Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano ( bs).
Since his first experience at the Enoteca Pinchiorri, which has permeated him, Baiocco has always forced himself to have as many experiences as possible precisely to try not to look like anyone. “Inevitably – observes Baiocco – if you stay in a house for many years and stay in close contact with a Chef, the risk that your cuisine will then be similar to his is high”.
And it is certain that he has visited many "houses", without sparing himself, even if he recognizes that two stages were fundamental in his professional training, the imprinting that Enoteca Pinchiorri gave him, the first starred restaurant in which made his bones and the three years spent in Paris between Ducasse and Gagnaire, a profoundly significant moment.
France, ah France, dream and paradise of generations of apprentice chefs. Today Stefano Baiocco jokes about it: ”Don't you want to have an experience in France? (By France I mean in French 3-star hotels, not in Italian restaurants abroad). First of all you think you're getting by with those 10 French words you badly digested in school, but the sound coming out of your mouth sounds like another language entirely. The environment in the kitchen is, to put it mildly, “competitive”. The twenty or so colleagues who look down on you think: this doesn't even last a day! You start at 6 in the morning until midnight with a half hour break in the afternoon, you eat if you remember, you're not there to eat but to do it, so much so that you lose 10 kg in a month, and every now and then the Chef decides that if the core temperature is only one degree higher, the fish you bring into the dining room pulls it after you … and you realize that in Paris, instead of swimming, fish fly! And in the meantime three years have gone by”.
But you will find all this again when you find yourself at the head of a large brigade in a demanding and aristocratic restaurant like that of the luxurious Villa Feltrinelli, a historic residence that hosted Benito Mussolini and his family from 1943 to 1945 before the dramatic epilogue of his parable politics, today an aristocratic hotel brought to an international level for a VIP clientele by an American billionaire who owns a chain of luxurious hotels around the world who commissioned an architectural firm in San Francisco to recreate the atmosphere of a residence of noble families.
And it is in this context that Stefano Baiocco creates flavors that become memories and dishes that can be admired like real works of art. Di lui is a cuisine that reaches first of all to the heart, made of research, quality, passion, uniqueness that interprets the flavors of tradition between simple ingredients and more complex and refined components with an ever new creativity that wants to convey emotions deep.
The dish mentioned at the beginning that Baiocco entitles with ironic modesty "...a simple salad" describes it, using two words that are normally used in politics: "Democratic because it is made up of only one leaf per type, neither two nor three, only one…. But he - he underlines immediately after - in the mouth is Anarchist. We cannot and do not want to control its taste. The idea is to take the nature of the day and put it on a plate”. At the base, slices of mushrooms are placed between two very thin and crunchy sheets of brick dough, and this gives the dish an earthy taste. Then all the herbaceous-tasting leaves are placed and finally, with a great scenographic effect, the edible flowers. Particularly that he says it all with the religiosity with which it is prepared: the dish is served with surgeon's tweezers to respect the leaves and those who have collected them and is seasoned only with a drizzle of almond oil, nothing else. It is a dish that is served after meat in a tasting menu and before desserts, as if to reset the palate”.
To understand, it is not a dish that seeks the effect, but that wants to convey an intimate feeling of the Chef. A dish like this cannot be improvised but is the result of a passion, a love that must be constant and that lasts throughout the year. Baiocco personally takes care of the selection, the orders, the sowing 4/5 times a year, the harvest, the cleaning, the pruning and the humidity control. And when it's closed, he goes to visit specialized greenhouses abroad to discover new varieties. All this is a philosophy of life, it is openness to the natural world, to its environmental expressions, to its fantastic kaleidoscope of colours. And Stefano Baiocco applies this philosophy to his precious and sought-after garden vegetables, as well as to meat, lake and sea fish, and the cheeses he serves on the table. Nature, with his philosophy, uber alles.
“Trout, foie gras, avocado and green apple” is a starter dish that the chef has been bringing around for some years. Here too one perceives all the complexity of the conception which however resolves itself into nuances of sensations: rich in fatty elements (trout, foie gras, avocado) and other acids (green apple, petals of pickled onions, salsa ponzu) “is a game of contrasts. a light and aesthetic dish”.
And it is impossible not to close by quoting the "Milk pancake with yoghurt, ginger and rosemary syrup". A dessert that has resisted on the menu since its arrival in Villa Feltrinelli in 2004. ginger and rolled up almost to form a small cannelloni. Caramelized and served with a rosemary syrup. A cloud…"
In short, we are faced with a kitchen from which the word stress is banned, airy, light, an alchemy of proposals created with great technique. "They asked me - concludes the Chef - what I ask for from my dishes…More than wanting something, I often realize that I have an almost "carnal" relationship with them, I think also due to the limited number of guests we serve: it's a bit like inviting friends to your home. Up to a certain number of people I manage to have tact on the dishes, to feel them truly mine, as if each of them had my voice, otherwise they lose track and it is no longer your creation but simply a product. The kitchen is for me a means of expression… What interests me is to understand the sensations of the people who come to eat, understand what they want and what fascinates them; I would like to be able to touch their thoughts because I believe that gastronomy is more in the head than in the belly.
A recurring phrase of his is: “A craftsman does what he knows how to do, an artist does what he doesn't know how to do, what he has learned is not enough for him, he wants to go further ... “ . For Baiocco, going further is equivalent to entering into harmony with its patrons in a sort of artistic-culinary happening that involves not only all the senses but also the mind in a constant game of sensational references between artist and spectator, for which everyone participates in a harmony that is produced instantly, leaving a trace that goes beyond taste.
