Francesco Francavilla is 42 years old and has grown up visiting his grandma at her restaurant in the centre of Rome. He began his career with the Sheraton hotel in Rome and then moved to Bonaire, a Caribbean island. He’s worked in multiple Michelin-starred restaurants, one of them being La Pergola in Rome. He is currently heading Vetro, the Italian restaurant at The Oberoi, Mumbai, and is at The Oberoi Grand this week.
Your earliest kitchen memory?
When I was in my teens, I wanted to be a bartender. I made my family some cocktails and my father hated it, so I thought I wasn’t good enough and didn’t pursue that dream.
Which can you make better — pizza or pasta?
Pasta! In Italy, one is either a pizza chef or a pasta chef. You cannot be both.
Your favourite place in the world for food?
Valdorcia in Tuscany has small, rustic, home-run restaurants that serve excellent food.
Your favourite Indian food?
Yellow dal! But not too spicy.
What is your comfort food?
Artichokes. My grandmother owned a restaurant and made delicious artichokes.
How is working in a Michelin restaurant different from an ordinary restaurant?
Very different. It’s very hard. You have to work very long hours and if the chef is angry with you, then you might have to wash the floors until he tells you to return to your station. Sometimes he will forget, so you might be washing the floor all night! But it is a very good experience.
Have you ever cooked for a celebrity?
I was Bruce Willis’s personal chef when he was in Rome for a Vodafone commercial in June, 2015. He liked very traditional Italian food. He loved the Tiramisu. And I would bring him fresh cheese because he liked that.
Michelangelo Sparapano is 27 years old and grew up in Ruvo di Puglia, in southern Italy. He’s a member of the Italian National Chef Team and has also worked in Michelin-starred restaurant Le Gavroche in London. He’s serving his Italian best at The Park this week.
Your favourite place in the world for food?
I think it is India. There is very good vegetarian food in India and the world is slowly turning vegetarian.
Your favourite Indian food?
I have had mishti doi and samosas until now and I liked them both!
If you hadn’t been a chef, what would you have been?
A basketball player! I played basketball for 19 years.
What is your kitchen personality?
I get angry at myself if I lose concentration.
Mauro Ferrari is 50 years old and hails from Sorano, Italy. After having worked with a number of Italian chefs, as well as opening two of his own restaurants in Milan and Tuscany, he joined the Hyatt group in 2013 in Muscat. He is currently with the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chennai, in the Italian restaurant, Focaccia. Find his authentic Italian menu at Hyatt Regency Kolkata, this week.
Is there a chef you really admire?
Gualtiero Marchesi, the father of modern Italian cuisine. We all modern Italian chefs are his followers.
Which dish would you consider your masterpiece?
Lobster Risotto wrapped in Fresh Sea Bass. I made this at my restaurant 15 years ago.
Your favourite Indian food?
Paneer! I discovered it in India, and I like it in gravy but not too spicy.
If you hadn’t been a chef, what would you have been?
Maybe a psychologist!
What is your kitchen personality?
Very calm. I rarely lose my temper. There is no time for anger.
Since you’re also quite the sommelier, what is an ideal pairing?
Red wine with fish is my favourite!
Have you ever cooked for a celebrity?
Lady Diana once visited Villa d’Este on Lake Como, where I was working, but I can’t remember what I cooked for her!
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Vittorio Greco is a 48-year-old chef from Tuscany, Italy, who currently heads the Ottimo restaurants at ITC Hotels. He has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants Ristorante il Bistrot and Ristorante La Peniche in Tuscany, apart from Ristorante Romeo’s and Ristorante Del’Uggo in Brisbane among others. You can feast on his Italian dishes at ITC Sonar, all of this week.
Describe Italian cuisine in three words...
Passion, love and simplicity.
An Indian dish you can never get enough of?
Palak paneer, biryani and any of the Indian breads.
A food combination you swear by?
I know it sounds odd but Jerusalem artichokes, gorgonzola cheese and chocolate.
Favourite food city?
Puglia in Southern Italy.
A myth about Italian food you would like to bust during your stay here?
Indians love the pink pasta sauce... there is no pink sauce! Also, we don’t make Spaghetti and Meatballs... it’s an American invention!
Biggest celebrity you’ve cooked for?
George Clooney, he loves oysters; and Sachin Tendulkar, who loves to eat at Ottimo.
A dish that you find challenging?
Spaghetti Pomodoro. It’s a really simple dish with basic ingredients but difficult to get just right. It’s all about the balance.
Lorenzo Alessio, 31, has worked at St Pancras Grand Restaurant & Champagne Bar Upper Concourse, Hotel South Lodge in London and Hotel Roma in Cervia, plus Michelin-starred restaurant Ristorante Paolo Teverini in Bagno di Romagna. You can taste his Italian creations at Taj Bengal this week.
Describe Italian cuisine in three words...
Simple, fresh and young.
Do you have a chef you look up to?
My mother, Nella. Just to be safe!
A Calcutta dish you like?
This is my first time in India and I had some great Bengali dishes at the hotel such as Chingri Malai Curry, Kosha Mangsho and luchi and Mishti Doi. Everything I ate, I loved.
If you weren’t a chef, you would have been?
I was a footballer before I became a chef. But I love talking to people and giving advice so I would be a mental coach.
Your comfort food?
Spaghetti Aglio Olio Peperoncino. It’s the best.
What was it like to work at a Michelin restaurant?
It’s too crazy. But I also learnt a lot about food.
Favourite food city?
I don’t know about a city but I can tell you my favourite region — Emilia-Romagna. The region produces beautiful ingredients like parmigiano, balsamic vinegar, parma ham... and the food is equally amazing.
Pictures: B. Halder and Pabitra Das
