Med Cooking 2019 – Chef two Michelin stars Gennaro Esposito of La Torre del Saracino

“Forgetting one’s origins is a a mortal sin”, Gennaro Esposito swears. One aware that those who always read different things are condemned to always read the same story, to say it with Roland Barthes. And there are stories in a sea urchin and in a ricotta di fuscella, in the leaf of a courgette like in a rock fish. He learned to decipher them from Gianfranco Vissani, thanks to whom he focused on the rêveries of student at the hotel and small commis of trattorias on the Coast, with the mountain of parsley to be chopped. It was 1991; ten years later he is Alain Ducasse at the Louis XV and at the Plaza Athénée, two schools of rigor, as well as the first star, followed by the second in 2008.

But Gennaro Esposito has not barricaded himself in his Torre del Saracino, a cult address in the Mediterranean basin. Since 2003 in the streets of the town organizes Festa a Vico, a charity event that holds the links of solidarity among hundreds of cooks; signs the tomato conserves “Gennaro Esposito chef” and some design objects; from 2015 and 2019 respectively, he leads IT in Ibiza and Milan. “But the new IT in London is opening: I am very curious to know this very difficult square, which represents a challenge. The formula is that of an Italian cuisine with classic and contemporary, quality but cheerful dishes, an important bar, a space for loose food and another more elegant environment, but not too much. Some rides are common, but we are already studying the products of the territory, where we found sole, scallops and extraordinary oysters. Regarding Med Cooking, I believe that all initiatives aimed at enhancing the Mediterranean culture are to be supported and supported. Because it is an extraordinary story, a cuisine of great contaminations and influences full of surprises, very widespread but not sufficiently considered. There is still so much to discover. Beyond fashions, it is always the moment of the Mediterranean”.

Alessandra Meldolesi