Italian chef Carlo Cracco will
be opening a 'temple of taste' in Milan's Galleria Vittorio and
aims to regain a Michelin star that he lost in November.
The restaurant will replace one on Via Victor Hugo and have
five floors on different themes: from the wine cellars to the
hall for events on the top floor.
In between there will be a café-bistrot along the walkway of
the Galleria, a restaurant overlooking the cupola and an entire
floor serving as a laboratory for the kitchens.
The cafe is the simplest and most informal: breakfasts, quick
meals, simple dishes and pastries.
The restaurant, instead, will be "a continuation" of the one
on Via Victor Hugo, with such classics as caramelized Russian
salad, saffron risotto and marinated egg yolk.
In the scenic wine cellars of spruce, there are over 2,000
labels and 10,000 bottles, with a significant selection of
Italian and French wines.
With 50 tables on the ground floor and 50 on the first floor,
for a total of 100 seats and capacity for 150 people standing at
the counters, the Vicenza-born chef said that "my first real
restaurant has been a birth of multiple twins. It is like a dish
in that it tells about itself through ingredients, sensations
and smells. It is a tale of both cuisine, scents and what
happened here".
The works took three years and the finished product is meant
as homage to both cuisine and the architecture of the Galleria.
"There is a sort of dialogue between the interiors and the
exterior, as is the case with Cracco's cuisine," said the
architects of Studio Peregalli, who led the works. "He wasn't
afraid that the decorations might distract from his dishes. "
Stucco, frescoes, mosaics, flowery wallpaper, soft lights and
velvet welcome diners.
"We liked this challenge," the chef said. "Today restaurants
are Nordic and minimalist. There was no need for another one of
them and I wanted to have my own restaurant, made with the ways
that are the result of passion as well as commitment."
Looking out a window, Cracco mentions another legendary
Italian chef, Gualtiero Marchesi, whose pastry shop is "across
the road".
"This was Marchesi's dream, too. I wish he were here, but he
decided to leave us before. I think he would have been proud of
what we did. When I spoke to him about it months ago, he said he
was crazy about the idea," Cracco said.
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