The atmosphere is infectious, it feels like being on a movie set, as the disoriented protagonist walks through a door and finds herself in a chaos of people running back and forth, handing out orders and snatching items from countertops on the fly. But this is not a movie, and I enter the kitchen of the Barino in Piazza Cavalli, in the heart of Piacenza, as an outsider who at best gets in the way of the work. It is nineteen fifteen o'clock on Monday, November eleven, so in a little over an hour the benefit dinner forming part of the Pulcheria 2013 series of meetings will kick off.
What I expected to find was a rather austere atmosphere, with the six chefs each intent on finishing their dishes in an atmosphere of relaxation and tranquility: evidently I don't often frequent restaurant kitchens! What is not lacking are smiles and intense collaboration, a true symbiosis in which each of these professionals, accompanied by expert collaborators, make their contribution to the good, indeed excellent, success of their colleagues' dishes.
I enter the scene right on the dispute about a mise en place and manage to get just enough attention to snatch a photo. The time for the shot and the guest of honor of the evening appears: Filippo Chiappini Dattilo makes his appearance in the kitchen, the symbolic place of this evening, distributing hugs and tender glances of those who really understand what these six magnificent women are doing. I therefore manage to quickly exchange a few words with Patrizia of 'La Fiaschetteria' who explains that her dish is inspired by a creation of Gualtiero Marchesi, the spearhead of the evening, a name that speaks for itself. Indeed, it is right to mention that the theme of the evening is the emulation by the six chefs of six great colleagues, whose dish they have chosen to revisit and make their own. What Patrizia tends to emphasize, however, is that this event is being held for the third time, a great success then, and being that they are all women they have now made fun the cornerstone ingredient of the evening. I thank her for her time and am about to leave, when Betty from the 'Cafe Grande' joins me: her purpose is to revisit Georges Cogny's Tarte Tatin, and when I ask her why she made this choice she has to admit with a big smile that she loves apples, a sentimental choice then. Because after all that is what drives this work, passion.
Although time did not allow me to interact with them, I would like to mention at least the names of the other chefs involved: Carla from 'Ristorante Riva', sisters Carla and Emanuela from 'Antica Trattoria da Cattivelli' and Isa from 'La Palta'.
Before leaving the restaurant I manage to turn one last glance at the room already perfectly set up. Large round tables have been chosen for the layout, the best for interaction; the waiters wander among them making sure that the tablecloths have no folds and the cutlery is in the right order, but what is most striking are the terracotta statuettes by sculptor Paola Foppiani that serve as the centerpiece, like the pivot of a clock without which the gear would not work.
The magic of the room is palpable, so much so that it doesn't take a great stretch of the imagination to imagine what the ambiance will be like an hour from now, with the dimmed lights, the dishes rich in culinary art, and the spirit of an evening organized to benefit charity and to star six chefs, or rather, six great women.