A truly symbolic and positive story that leaves us with a smile of satisfaction on our lips is undoubtedly that of Serenella Medone, cook (don't call her chef, she gets irritated) of Al Solito Posto in Bogliasco, on the Riviera Ligure di Levante just past Nervi. The holy fury of passion for cooking did not seize you as a child. Your life for a good stretch was furrowed by something else, care to explain how your and your husband Alessandro Palazzesi's amateur passion became a life choice?
With pleasure! We were tired of our jobs, me a clerk and Ale a dental technician...we took over a pub: Alessandro in the lounge tapping beers and shaking cocktails, me in the kitchenette packing sandwiches, bruschetta and salads. But even then we were already looking for quality, both in drinking and in the purchase of cold cuts and cheeses...But the sandwich "fit me tightly," I wanted to create something more, I wanted to give life to a thought that was mine alone. The first amateur cooking classes arrived, then those at Etoile...a new world opened up before me. We decided to turn our working life around and the idea of dedicating ourselves to cooking in the strict sense of the word was born and, as I wrote in my little blog, "in the beginning it was Niko Romito," meaning that so great was the excitement I felt at the table of the Reale that I decided definitively in which direction to go. The rest...well, it's still evolving!!! We are a couple of restaurateurs, Alessandro takes care of the dining room and baking, I take care of the kitchen in the strictest sense...to him the great merit of following all the bureaucratic and non-bureaucratic tasks, leaving me free to be quiet at the stove...and that is no small thing!!!! The restaurant is now our home...
Your restaurant is considered one of the best in the Eastern Riviera, and since it is an area full of excellent establishments, it is indeed a coveted accolade. To turn natural predisposition, into technique and absolute professionalism I know that you have gone through many training experiences, such as courses at Alma and Étoile. How important in your opinion is the chemical and organoleptic knowledge of food in order to be able to cook at a high level? I mean: is talent alone enough?
TALENT TECHNIQUE TENACY: these are the indispensable foundations in my opinion of this profession. Talent definitely: only a "happy hand" and a deep love for this craft can make the difference, without heart it is impossible to get good results, and cooking, the good kind I mean, is born from the heart... Unavoidable technique: talent alone is not enough, you have to optimize the results you get, try to get the best out of even the humblest of materials. Cooking is, like it or not, chemistry and physics: absolutely necessary, therefore, a good technical and specialized background that can support the already onerous work of cooking. And then nowadays we have at our disposal equipment and techniques that can enhance our work, and it would be in my opinion foolish not to take advantage of them! The important thing is that the technique is not an end in itself but rather a support to achieving the best we can offer...
Would you like to tell us a little bit about your cooking? None of you true master of the craft likes to define your own cooking, I know, but I would at least appreciate it if you would illustrate what the starting and ending point is. What are you most interested in offering the guest of your establishment? A great seafood dish,? An emotional experience? A suggestion to enrich one's knowledge or what else?
I don't consider myself an outlier but simply a good craftsman, I am cheerful and curious and I think that can be read in my dishes. Mine is a cuisine that is strongly of the territory, but current, modern and playful... For me play is fundamental, understood as an exploratory and playful experience, not for nothing one of the two tastings on my menu is called "the game." I do not like to twist dishes or ingredients but to play with them: an unusual combination, a fun mise en place and color scheme will, in my opinion, make the difference, but the raw material and tradition are always sovereign. Nowadays people don't go to restaurants to eat, I believe, but rather to spend an evening and try something new or evocative: lo and behold, if I can give an emotion, if I can crack a smile, then my work has not been in vain!!!
Maybe I am wrong and certainly not always the case, but I strongly believe that in order to be able to give a scent or flavor with the right elegance, one must know it in depth, one must have tasted and smelled it in childhood, or one must have had such a loving flirtation with it that one has grasped its every secret. I therefore believe that your cooking is so extraordinary and generous with pleasures because you know exactly what you are giving. Am I wrong?
I am 100% Ligurian and deeply love my land; moreover, I am the daughter of a fisherman, and well alive in my heart are carved the scents, colors and beauty of the sea. As soon as I was free from my school commitments, I would get up even before the sun to accompany my dad to hoist the nets: I would dip my hands in the water to catch the still-living octopus, I have been stung enne times by fish and shellfish, but my kitchen is there, in that sea without which I believe I could not live...if you grew up breathing the brackish you cannot do without it! And then my grandmother-nine children and a lot of poverty-grew a vegetable garden and raised barnyard animals...When I cook I think back to these experiences that are my deep being in the kitchen....this is how much I hope to be able to donate!!!
I read that Paolo Marchi wrote "how nice to dine at the Solito Posto in Bogliasco." The term "how nice" coming from a great enogastronomer like him is unusual: it is an expression that brings back to pure pleasure, to the most intimate satisfaction, almost to childhood. What effect does it have on you to hear so many great food critics expressing themselves towards you, not only with great professional respect, but also with this sincere affection and gratitude?
Critics come, praise comes, but also criticism: you have to treasure everything and try to improve, woe betide sleeping on your laurels or crying over a negative criticism...roll up your sleeves and work, trying to do well, trying to give your best! Of course, benevolent and affectionate food criticism for us cooks who are always there slaving away is an immense pleasure, why deny it? When we had Paolo Marchi's visit, we were nervous as hell, but I think he appreciated our way of being simple and straightforward...he was among the first to bet on us, and we owe him a lot...I think the affection is mutual!!!
In addition to the excellent seafood dishes, your restaurant is also very well rated for its various homemade breads and desserts. How important was your friendship with Loretta Fanella in fine-tuning the desserts? (We refer barnews readers to the interview Loretta has already given on this same blog)
Ah Loretta Loretta, I love her!!! She is one of my culinary legends, and I owe a great deal to her! Meeting and working with her for me has been a blessing "cubed": first of all, being by her side I was able to learn astounding techniques, I learned that the inspiration for a dessert can come from anywhere, from a landscape, from a tool, from an emotion... Secondly, Lory made me "get out" of my kitchen, "giving me" banquet experiences with numbers unthinkable for me...seeing her at work and assisting her in events for 200-300 people was truly formative and exciting...here, Loretta is just technical talent tenacity to the nth power. Last but not least, she is of a truly transcendent humility and friendliness...here, in case there was ever a need, she taught me that there is absolutely no need to "show off"...if you are really good, there is no need!!! Then we became friends...but that is strictly private....hardly between us we talk about work, we chat about more and less, about our own things....
Certainly you and your husband in order to turn a pub into a prestigious and charming establishment and especially to keep the name high over time, you had to work hard, but this is part of the Ligurian character and of seafaring people in general, I know this from personal experience, (half of my family is Ligurian) and I see it in the facts of everyday life, such as the extraordinary recovery of the villages of the cinqueterre so brutally offended by a calamity and so quickly brought back to life only thanks to the great tenacity of the local population, yet Ligurians are not exactly known for their loquacity and directness, you, on the other hand, belie this rough name with your friendliness and gentleness. What value do you place on the human relationship with the customer?
I am Ligurian and stubborn, my husband is from the Marche region and even more stubborn than me: that's the tenacity of our being restaurateurs! For us, the human relationship is, to say the least, fundamental...He is a born barker, always cheerful and jovial, and I, as soon as I can, "slip" between tables to greet my guests. I find this aspect fundamental in my work: it is useless to close yourself off in your technicalities and ideas if then you do not know how to establish a minimum of rapport with those who, in any case, have expectations of you and your cooking. It's true, often my countrymen are rough-but sincere: I, on the other hand, just can't be rough,,,what did you expect from someone named Serenella?
What do you think of the quick successes, immediate popularity, and cookingrealityshows? Do you think that a young person who wants to enter this profession does well to also take advantage of these opportunities to make themselves known, or do you think it is a dangerous deception, an attempt at a shortcut that they will later regret?"
In medio stat virtus"...that is to say, we live in a highly media-driven society where appearing is very important...but woe if you don't "be"...I believe little in quick successes in the kitchen, I believe that success and popularity are profoundly different things...Someone like Enrico Crippa never appears on TV, and yet...he will be great? However, if the right opportunity comes along I think it is honest to take advantage of it...but at the base there must always be talent, technique, tenacity...That of the chef is a figure that is in fashion, but being a chef really is not a "cool" job, it is a hard, difficult and...terribly wonderful job!!!
How do you see the future of you and your restaurant? Do you cherish any new projects? A dream in the drawer? Or is the ambition to move forward in the continuity of what you have created so far?
In hard times like the ones we are living through, to cherish new projects is practically madness...sure, we would like to make some improvements to our little restaurant, but what we strongly hope for is to continue to see people happy with their dinner, families bringing their children and grandparents there...in short, to continue to work with passion and love as they have done so far! I keep a little dream in the drawer, but I keep it all to myself ... mica I can tell you everything but everything!!!
If those who follow this blog would like to contact you, can you give us some useful references?
I am Serenella and I live practically "walled" in my restaurant. If you'd like, here: info@alsolitoposto.net, write to me! or call me at 010/3461040 or even, if you're passing through Bogliasco, come and pay me a little visit at 228 Via Mazzini, not necessarily to dine, even just for a chat...and be sure to call me "tu": my girlish heart will be eternally grateful!!!
Thank you for your attention, I hope I haven't bored you too much with my chatter!
Serenella
Interview edited by Monica Palla
