It is in Belgium the best Italian cuisine restaurant abroad. To keep up the tricolor is the Gellius in West Flanders, in Knokke, a small seaside town on the North Sea. The restaurant, the result of the collaboration between the gallerist Gianni Piretti and lo chef Alessandro Breda, former owner of Gellius in Oderzo in the Veneto region, this year the Gambero Rosso Guide has risen to the top of the "Top Italian Restaurants 2022" classification, which signals experiences of authentic Made in Italy value abroad as one of the rare cases in which the satellite restaurant faithfully follows the spirit of the flagship restaurant, thanks to the work of the chef Davide Asta.
Chef of the Year he was nominated instead Carmine Amarante of the Armani restaurant in Tokyo for having been able to ferry all its baggage of flavors and recipes, renewing the identity of a restaurant usually standardized on some classic registers.
The guide which has selected around 800 establishments that tell a vital and vibrant cross-section of Italian catering abroad enriched by a new generation of creative and innovative chefs, awarded the Guardian of Traditions award to Francesco Mazzei chef and patron of Sartori in Londona, an Italian fine dining in the heart of Mayfair and two other restaurants, Radici and Fiume, with the motivation that in full respect of Italian traditions and raw materials, maintaining integrity, character and attentive service even in a city that has suffered between closures and Brexit.
Then we move in Ukraine, in Kiev for the Emerging Restaurant Award assigned to Feni, where chef Stefano Antoniolli in a short time he was able to create a menu that was nothing short of stimulating and creative in a context that was anything but simple in terms of availability of products and customer requests.
Obviously, a section dedicated to pizzerias could not be missing from the Guide. There Pizzeria of the Year is Futura in Berlin, already awarded two years ago, thanks to a soft and airy dough with few equals in Europe, in full respect of the Neapolitan tradition and continuously updated thanks to the studies of the talented pizza chef Alessandro Leonardi.
Finally, the Wine List of the Year awarded in the 2022 edition of the Gambero Rosso Guide is 1889 Wine shop in Brisbane, Australia. Ste are in a wine place, enhanced by a list drawn up with love and passion, among Italian artisan wines, a brilliant mix and accurate explanations of the territories. In combination, a rigorous cuisine with a Roman accent, for a true experience even 16 kilometers from home.
“We owe a lot to Italian catering around the world, our true strength, the engine of Italian food and wine exports capable of setting a new record again this year, confirming an exceptional trend in the Italian economic context. We are extremely motivated to continue to follow this area closely, rewarding merit and stimulating virtuous competition”, comments Paolo Cuccia, president of Gambero Rosso. In particular, towards the end of the year there were a long series of excellent openings, from Massimo Bottura's Gucci Osteria in Tokyo to Di Martino's La Devozione in New York, very recently the inauguration of the new Niko Romito restaurant inside the Bulgari Paris. Also in Paris, after years of renovation, the Langosteria, personally commissioned by Monsieur Bernard Arnauld, opens in the historic Samaritaine department store of the Lvmh Group. Luigi Salerno, CEO of Gambero Rosso points out “Abroad there is an increasing demand for simplicity even in luxurious contexts. Gourmets go crazy for spaghetti with tomato sauce, pasta and potatoes or the immediacy of a Milanese cutlet. Since June we have resumed our activities around the world at full speed and with great success in support of quality Italian food and wine.”
The guide can be consulted on the website: www.gamberorossointernational.com/restaurants
TOP ITALIAN RESTAURANTS SPECIAL AWARDS 2022
Restaurant of the Year – Gellius, Knokke
Chef of the Year – Carmine Amarante, Tokyo
Pizzeria of the Year – Futura, Berlin
Emerging Restaurant – Fenix, Kiev
New Opening – Estro, Hong Kong
Guardian of Tradition Award – Francesco Mazzei, London
Wine List of the Year – 1889 Enoteca, Brisbane
