Chefs are the new rock stars, they say. Now perennially present in every television program, important people often surround them, have a considerable salary and attract an increasing number of fans. Above all, they have launched a “new trend”: the perfectly prepared cuisine, meaning carefully selected ingredients and hours behind the stove to prepare unusual dishes. Now everyone feels they can cook.
Now everyone, even more, feels they can be food and wine judges. In all this chaos of bright lights and TV hosts, however, it happens that some of them forget who they are and what their core work is. Seemingly, not chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo. The gentle giant of Italian cuisine (in the literal sense, given his 1.91 meter height) has hit the headlines with his 2013 debut on the small screen conducting the program “Kitchen Nightmares”, but his name in the high-class catering sector was already well established: when he was just 24-years old (he is now 42) he opened his restaurant Villa Crespi with his wife Cinzia on Lake Orta, in Piedmont, emigrating from his native Campania region and proved himself quickly, garnering 2 Michelin stars, 3 forks in the Gambero Rosso guide and 3 hats from the weekly L’Espresso guide.
His TV appearances also increased: “O’mare mio”, a four-episode special of his own making, and, above all, his judge status on “MasterChef Italia” solidified his popularity. Charismatic and good-natured, he gets the chance not only to show off his cooking savvy and enormous knowledge, he also never misses the chance for a noisy slaps on some poor unfortunate back – his signature gesture somewhere between encouragement and reproach. Chef Cannavacciuolo sweats behind the scenes, while keeping up with his camera career, constantly increasing his commitments in the restaurant world. In fact, at the end of October 2015, the Cannavacciuolo Café & Bistrot opened in the center of Novara, and more recently, in Turin, the Bistrot Cannavacciuolo was inaugurated. “Ci pensa Antonino” (Leave it to Antonio), a special television broadcast on Italian channel Nove is an intimate and totally unpublished portrait of the nicest chef of Italian TV, revealing the origins of his passion for cooking and everything it takes to open and run a restaurant. Chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo opened up and gave us a candid interview.
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Recently, the Italian channel Nove ran “Ci pensa Antonino”, a television special about you and your profession as a chef. What led you to tell open up to viewers?
Often we focus only on where we are, but I think it is important to look at what we did to reach those goals. With this special I wanted to tell mine and Cinzia’s story – Cinzia who has always been by my side and with whom I have created the most important things. To build solid projects, one must never forget the road traveled.
**In the TV special, you tell how your father, also a cook, always tried to dissuade you from undertaking this difficult career. What has led you (fortunately) to follow in his footsteps?
** My father knows how much effort and sacrifice this work takes and he always told me “You do it well or not at all”. He and my mother dreamed of something different for me, but as a child I knew I had no choice. It’s a passion you are born with.
**How do you manage to juggle your chef work with the numerous television commitments?
** I try to make the most of my time and to be as present as much as possible at the Villa Crespi restaurant for daily management both of my kitchen and our guests.
The food topic has now pervaded every television channel and has become one of the most visited topics online. Do you think that this media overexposure is good for the art of cooking or could it be harmful in the long run?
In general, I think the attention is positive because it has generated curiosity about the catering world. Until a few years ago, a cook’s work attracted very little consideration, or at least not the same as now, and I’m glad that there is more attention now to the “behind the scenes” of our work. Today, restaurant goers are more conscious.
You were only 24 when you opened Villa Crespi with your wife Cinzia, and it wasn’t a hit immediately. What advice would you give to a young chef today who wants to build a career in Italy?
I would say that this work not only calls for great sacrifices, but a massive and constant effort: don’t be defeated by the difficulties, go on and follow your dreams.
**Villa Crespi, Cannavacciuolo Café & Bistrot, Bistrot Cannavacciuolo, to name a few of the various TV programs: an intense public presence and hectic daily work. What would you like to see in the future of chef Cannavacciuolo?
** There are so many projects, we must never stop.
Would you recommend one of your dishes that you are particularly proud of?
Just one? Everyone dish special, it is impossible to choose. They are like children; there is never a favorite one.
Paolo Del Panta