27 November 2012
Gualtiero Marchesi was born in Milan in the Mercato hotel run by his parents. The year was 1930. After important experiences abroad, he opened his own restaurant in 1977, on Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. He was the first chef in Italy to receive three Michelin stars (1985) and the first in the world to reject the guide’s judgment and turn down its stars (2008). He has received innumerable honors and awards, including Commendatore della Repubblica, Cavaliere della Repubblica, Ambrogino d’Oro, Personnalité de l’Année, Premio Artusi, Grand Prix Mémoire et Gratitude and Premio Isimbardi. In September 1993 he moved the Ristorante Gualtiero Marchesi to Erbusco, and for over twenty years has devoted himself to promoting Italian cuisine around the world, setting up restaurants in Japan, England, Russia and France. In January 2004 ALMA, the International School of Italian Cooking, a project to which Gualtiero Marchesi is deeply committed, opened its doors. In May 2008 he opened the Ristorante il Marchesino at La Scala in Milan, and in 2010 he set up his foundation, which aims to teach the good and the beautiful through all the arts.
The song you never get tired of listening to.
La Gagarella del Biffi Scala which I sing with Stefano of Elio e le Storie Tese, and you hear when you’re put on hold on the telephone to Il Marchesino.
The movie you can watch over and over again.
Radu Mihăileanu’s The Concert.
The book you fell head over heels in love with.
Kierkegaard’s Either/Or, in which he speaks of Don Juan.
The object you’re most attached to.
My brain.
Your favorite place.
Alongside my wife.
A cult film you cannot stand.
There are a lot of them and I don’t watch them.
A literary classic you can’t bear.
If they’re classics, I can bear them all.
The most beautiful automobile ever made.
All the Jaguar models.
Three stops on a journey around the world.
The one I’m about to make: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Marrakesh.
A contemporary artist whose future in the history of art is assured.
Me, Gualtiero Marchesi.
An architect to whom you would entrust the construction of a fantastic place.
A young architect, Valentina Moretti and her staff.
A fashion designer for an epoch-making show.
Miuccia Prada.
An elegant person.
One who respects classical quality.
An inelegant person.
The exact opposite.
Who would you advise to change profession?
Anyone who doesn’t know how to do it.
A bad habit you have?
Saying what I think.
What would you like to overindulge in?
Love, feelings, tenderness.
What can’t you do without?
Things that are beautiful because they’re good.
What would you like to be a champion of?
What I’m doing.
The hotel and restaurant at the top of your personal league table.
The Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como and the Troisgros restaurant in Roanne.
The greatest invention of all time.
Cooking. The shift from raw to cooked.
The historical figure you are most grateful to.
Johann Sebastian Bach.