It takes great tenacity and determination to dream of entering the kitchen of the great masters and then being able to pin down stellar experiences in the kitchens of the greatest chefs of European haute cuisine.
Luca Tartaglia has cultivated this determination since he was a boy - don't be fooled by his meek and reserved appearance. Now thirty years old, ever since he was little in Cittadella in the province of Padua, near the route of the ancient Postojna Street, an important artery that connected Aquileia a GenoVa, covering the entire Northern Italy, cultivated the desire to discover new horizons. And the way of cooking appeared to him from the age of twelve as the right tool to go beyond the quiet confines of a provincial town. “At the time – he recalls – I was fascinated by what I could glimpse in the kitchens of the restaurants I frequented, and this is why he decided to enroll me in the hotel institute in Castelfranco Veneto”. As soon as he was able to gain experience he had no hesitations in aiming for ambitious goals. The first stop was the summer season alongside Riccardo Camanini, at the Michelin-starred Villa Fiordaliso hotel on Lake Garda which with Lido 84 subsequently managed to rank as the 8th best restaurant in the world according to The World's ranking 50 Best Restaurants. “It is thanks to this experience – he recalls today – that I began to understand and appreciate the attention to detail, becoming passionate about the precision and “military” rigor that characterize a certain type of catering”.
Sacrifices and a hard life did not impress him, on the contrary they were a strong adrenaline rush that pushed him to pursue other ambitious goals. He leaves for England partly for the language and partly to try new experiences, and at the same time he sends letters to the most prestigious restaurants asking to do an internship. And here comes another great opportunity. An email from Gavroche, of London, the two Michelin star French cuisine restaurant founded by the Roux brothers in Mayfair frequented by English high finance, opens its arms to him. Tartaglia spent a year and a half of hard work there, learning to master the cooking and authentic bases of the classic French cuisine of the older generation, in all its nuances. After England he descends to France, always animated by his bold determination which is rewarded: there follows the opening of the Plaza Athenee hotel for Alain Ducasse, sacred monster of French and world cuisine, where the group aimed for three stars right from the start . And in Paris, he was enchanted like never before by the skill and class of a chef who would definitively mark the course of his life: Pascal Barbot, three Michelin stars, with his restaurant L'Astrance which has repeatedly entered the ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the world until reaching 13th position in the world in 2011. He was fascinated by it: "he had - he recalls - an idea of cooking that was getting closer and closer to mine". It was love at first sight, although obviously there were difficulties. “Looking back – Tartaglia declares today – I can say with certainty that Pascal was the professional figure who gave me the most, leaving me something not only from a technical and professional point of view but also from a human point of view.
Thus he spent three years at his side with numerous travel and internship experiences - from Asia to Denmark, passing through the Barcelona ticket and Okuda's Japanese cuisine. He returns to Italy and here he is again next to a great chef, Antonio Guida, from the two Michelin star Mandarin Oriental hotel in Milan, where he arrives as chef de cuisine.
But deep down he begins to cultivate the desire to test himself by putting into practice all the great experience he has accumulated over the years. “By metabolising the teachings of my old chefs – she says – I realized that, in order to have the freedom I dreamed of, I had to start my own project”.
And his project, when he was not yet thirty years old, took shape in Pierre, a sartorial and contemporary Trattoria that Luca Tartaglia opened with his friend Nicolò De Pol in the quiet and traditional Treviso.
A real gastronomic whiplash in an environment, that of the Treviso restaurant industry, which loves to sail in calm and guaranteed waters. The name Trattoria is already a program of action: the etymology derives from that of the tractor, or the innkeeper, and derives from the French traiteur - which is in turn based on the lemma traiter, coming from the Latin tractare: that is, to prepare, intended like cooking, where you go to spend the evening with friends, a place where you always feel at home, where you can spend pleasant and relaxing moments.
And the other lemma “Tailoring”? Luca Tartaglia and Nicolò De Pol explain it this way: "We defined it as sartorial because the dishes on our menus are "tailor-made", stitch after stitch, ingredient after ingredient, making them match and making them harmonious with each other for the needs of each our guest who comes to visit us. All this transported into the present day, with our new habits and needs, which make this restaurant contemporary and which unites and brings together all generations".
For Luca and Nicolò, Pierre is the alter ego of each of us "our inner part that feels a little different and that wants to break the mold by paying attention to "making Italy come alive, with the wonderful recipes that offers and its small artisanal producers who deserve to be valorised”. A project different from all the others, something real and direct, without too many constraints and frills. A project that goes to the essence of flavors and memory but which, behind its apparent simplicity, is based on a great international gastronomic school.
A philosophy appreciated by the Michelin Guide in these terms: “On the edge of the historic center, a simple restaurant, with few seats in modern environments but with echoes of the Twenties, where the attention is concentrated on the cuisine, which wants to be tailored right from the name. Few proposals on the menu, designed based on what the market offers best, and elaborated with creativity (more in the tasting menus), without excess, rewarding taste".
The recipe for tomato consommé with molluscs and crustaceans, flavored with ginger and lemon proposed this week for the readers of Mondo Food was born from the idea of taking the Japanese broths and soups with which they usually start the meal, Italianizing it with the ingredients that the more they represent us par excellence: tomato, basil and extra virgin olive oil. Obviously a good glass of wine cannot be missing. A lightly macerated Garganega or Nosiola. Semi-aromatic wines with a fairly intense flavor that go well with the acidity of the tomato and the aroma of the basil, whose salinity will be enhanced by the unctuousness of the oil and crustaceans and molluscs. PS: A name to keep an eye on
The recipe for tomato consommé with molluscs and crustaceans, flavored with ginger and lemon
Ingredients:
- datterino tomato
-San Marzano tomato
-crustaceans and molluscs according to availability (mussels, clams, prawns, calamari)
-untreated organic lemon
- fresh ginger
-extra virgin olive oil
-basil leaves
-soy sauce
- primo sale cheese
Procedure:
Blend the San Marzano tomatoes with a part of the datterino tomatoes, add a few slices of ginger and basil leaves. Simmer for about 30 minutes and filter.
Blanch the remaining datterino tomatoes, immerse them in cold water and ice, peel them and then cut them into 3 or 4 pieces.
Clean the crustaceans and molluscs and steam them for a few seconds. If too large, cut them into pieces. Cut the first salt into cubes. Cut a lemon sharply and cut the segments into cubes.
Finish:
Place the warmed tomatoes, crustaceans and molluscs and cubes of primo sale in a bowl.
Season with extra virgin olive oil, basil leaves, grated lemon peel and a few cubes of raw lemon.
Season the warm consommé with the cooking water released by the molluscs and crustaceans and adjust the flavor with the soy sauce.
Pour into the holster and serve.
Pierre Trattoria Sartoriale
Viale dei Mille, 1 C,
31100 Treviso TV
Menu: pierretrattoriasartoriale.com
Phone: 0422 541022
