Chef Davide Cananzi at The Park on Friday. Picture by Rashbehari Das

The Park, Calcutta, has added a brand new something to its kitty.

No, it’s not their fourth night hotspot. It isn’t another speciality restaurant either. Instead, it is the appointment of their new executive chef — chef Davide Cananzi — that is making news this time around.

Davide began his culinary career at 13, “cleaning potatoes during vacation” in a hotel in Sardegna in Italy, where his mother was executive chef.

Having “decided right then” to pursue a chef’s career, Davide went on to study hotel management at the Hospitality School in Sardegna in 1995.

Stints in star kitchens across the globe followed, but Davide is certainly not a new face to the Calcutta connoisseur.

Having played an instrumental part in the success story of La Cucina at the Hyatt Regency, Calcutta, Davide is already familiar with the city’s discerning taste buds.

A perfect city to exhibit what he considers his “biggest strength” — building great relations with his guests as well as staff — Calcutta is where he found his family, too. He lives in Hiland Park with his Bengali wife Suparna and one-year-old son Mauro.

The Park, with its boutique set-up, he says, will be the “right place to showcase his skills and styles of world food”.

Salmoli Mukerji, director of public relations at The Park, says: “We began the trend of international chefs in the city and bringing in a chef with Davide’s expertise is a step in the direction. We were looking for someone who would add value to the hotel and simultaneously add a dash of international flavour — Chef Cananzi fits the bill perfectly.”

“The banquet is going to be a major thrust. Expect lots of live counters — Mongolian, Lebanese, Chinese, Mediterranean and fusion delicacies. Plus, the Atrium, as always, is going to act as a great stage for funky food promotions and concepts,” said Anirban Simlai, director F&B at The Park.

Davide, with his designer French beard and Italian gold earrings (which he feels are a part of his persona), is geared up for his new assignment.

“There is a lot of scope in terms of outlets and exposure in this hotel, be it experimenting with club food in the cocktail bar Roxy or Caribbean dishes at the Atrium. Most importantly, I will be able to do what I want to do exactly how I want to,” he says. Freedom, he feels, is his right as an “artiste”.

But any big plans yet? “It is not a question of change. I am going to concentrate on improvement instead.”

so dismissing talk of launching an Italian restaurant at The Park, Davide is more than glad to flaunt French and Swiss skills for the time being.

At home, he has turned the tables. While Davide tries to perfect the preparation of Bhapa Ilish (he knows he can still cannot compete with his wife), Mauro is happy being fed “small pasta with vegetables and chicken”.