Gualtiero Marchesi

Gualtiero Marchesi inspires grandiose descriptions. He was the leader of Italian nouvelle cuisine and thus inscribed his name in gold in the annals of Italian culinary history. He created a body of work that was clearly different, personal and very Italian, with dishes whose glory has withstood the passage of time. His spirit and knowledge culminated in the opening of a school, with disciples including Paolo Lopriore, Carlo Cracco, Enrico Crippa, Davide Oldani, Andrea Berton, etc. In accordance with everything said, he enjoys universal fame in the culinary world.

His cuisine is marked by passion that transforms itself into art. He paints his masterpieces onto the plate. If beauty in the disposition of his creations has given him character, minimalism has also greatly left its imprint on his work. He tends to create essential constructions with very few elements, very reflective, expressing talent, so much talent that it leaves a concrete distinction in his culinary panorama. Two, three, and sometimes four elements comprise the dazzling and radiant body of a dish. The examples are endless. It suffices to mention the cold spaghetti with caviar and chives: evolution of a landscape, three details and a lot of magic, elemental beauty… Another artistic marvel is the open ravioli, a bold, circular star with open sheets, extending to points… as if it was a round mille-feuilles, opening up to reveal its interior. The squid in its ink: aside from confirming yet again his obsession with aesthetics (in this case incorporating volume and height – the cephalopod above the accompaniment), broke with tradition by separating the preparation of the main ingredient and the one of the sauce, which at the time was nothing short of a milestone. Gualtiero has always been a person sensitive to beauty, innovation, simplicity and pure, immaculate flavors. All this, combined with a Milanese sensibility, French technique and a privileged gift of taste, both intellectual and palatal, are manifest in the most celebrated of the risottos: rice, gold and saffron. The textural contrast of the grain with the creaminess of the sauce melting into a diverse body is absolutely perfect. When tasted, the rice preserves its identity and the saffron presents itself with delicacy, in an unmistakable manner. Similarly, the crispy potato gnocchi with tomato sauce and fried onion: a wise and exquisite recreation of a culture. And what can be said for the 2000 version of “la costoletta alla milanese”? It was a clairvoyant reform, created to bring in the new millennium in accordance with modern times. Life, enthusiasm and genius; his last masterpiece, “dripping di pesce”, dates to 2005. It is a gastronomic painting inspired by Jackson Pollock that vindicates and reinvents mayonnaise in honor of calamari and cockles. An explosion of culinary colors: liquid yellow mayonnaise, liquid green pesto mayonnaise, tomato sauce, black sauce from squid ink, calamari and cockles. Traditional flavors, perfect sauces and unforgettable artistic beauty.

It is hard to find words for some of the exceptional works like the “Dritti” spaghetti or the learned, aristocratic extravagance that is the virtuosic fushcia risotto with beets, or the academic filet steak Rossini according to Gualtiero… a cuisine that is above the concepts of good and bad, from a chef that transcends time, and an artist whose works beg to be savored.