At the entrance it is Bud Powell who welcomes me, and I immediately think that jazz music is exactly the ideal background music for any time of day, in any venue that wants to convey an idea of relaxation and familiarity, two qualities that are certainly not lacking at Boutique 12 in Piazza Oberdan, a delightful and minimal environment run by Flavio Esposito.
As a true host, our friend makes me sit down by immediately offering me a drink. As he starts telling me about his new project, I look around curiously, and I think that like any great discovery, Flavio's is hidden behind a place from which you would not expect such professional service and such care for the cuisine and drinks, for the series 'the content is more important than the container': no dimmed lights from lounge club privé or whatever other foreign word you want to associate with it; no invasive music, no upper-class atmosphere; nothing except what you would need to find: traditional or at least well-known dishes, revamped, reimagined and rethought with an eccentric and original touch, the result, however, of a long and careful study, conducted in parallel on the drinks to which they are paired. Indeed, it is constant study and experimentation that distinguish his project by the name Food & Drink Experience, which aims to combine the flavors of food with those of cocktails through precise combinations, to lead the user to a new way of savoring that involves all five senses. Sight welcomes us, smell whets our appetite, touch opens us to contact with the cutlery but also between the hands and the food itself, hearing helps in listening to the proposed dish, and taste... well, we don't even need to explain it, only to add that a true balance of flavors is necessary for proper appreciation. Two very important criteria also come into play in this process for the success of the experience in its entirety: contrast, in that food and drink go to mutually compensate each other's imbalances, and structure, which acts as the needle of the scales.
Not bad as an expression of a project to which many aspire but which no one has yet managed to realize, and not bad especially for someone like Flavio who has learned everything by self-study alone, pursuing a passion that he has cultivated since he was a child and has been raising since he was fourteen.
Important collaborations are not lacking in his resume, and just to mention a name we could mention Heinz Beck, but also tenacity in pursuing his own goals and personal professional growth have helped him in the birth of a course promoted by A.I.B.E.S. that in eight lessons sifts through the main foods, always related to the five senses.
The enthusiasm and passion for these achievements shine through in his tone of voice, his excitement and his desire to make people aware, to make as many people as possible understand the importance of this project. After all, although he is not a real chef, Flavio is keen to emphasize that it is important for him to share with colleagues more than to take credit for successes because only by doing so can progress be made. And this is exactly what he has done, he has grown, and the results can be seen: the column in the online magazine affaritaliani.it is the most successful one (just count the likes to the article 'Risotto alla milanese con ossobuco e Bull Shot') and it is also the activity that gives him the most satisfaction, as he admits, since if people continually appreciate the publications it is because they are following steadily and beginning to understand this evolution.
But Flavio's work has only been born a few months ago and certainly still has a lot to offer. Certainly reinventing the dishes of traction, of the great masters, and making them his own to improve them is an excellent springboard, but the actual introduction of new creations is the contribution that this great barchef wants to make to a multifaceted and ever-evolving world, in which those who know how to reinvent themselves and make passion the pivot of their work often emerge.
