FOOD OF LOVE

LUCA FANTIN, Executive Chef at Tokyo’s one‑michelin‑starred Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin, tells Zara Zhuang how he draws on memories of his Italian childhood to work magic

Luca Fantin is a long way from home, but that hasn’t stopped him from advancing Italian cuisine in distant lands. The Treviso native from northern Italy has made a name for himself promoting a contemporary interpretation of traditional Italian cuisine realised through Japanese produce at Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin, established in 2009 in Tokyo. As executive chef of the restaurant occupying the top four floors of the Bvlgari Ginza Tower, he led it to clinch one Michelin star in 2011, and he now holds the distinction of being the only non-japanese chef to head one of the 11 Japanese venues listed on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2018 list. He oversees the restaurants of Bvlgari’s properties in Osaka and Bali as well.

Throughout a career that has taken him to Milan, Rome and Spain’s Basque Country, Fantin has stayed true to the soul of Italian cuisine with remarkable results: In 2014, Italian culinary guide Identità Golose named him Best Italian Chef In The World, and in 2017, the

Gambero Rosso restaurant guide recognised Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin in Tokyo as the Top Italian Restaurant In The World.

In Singapore last September for a four-hands dining collaboration with Kirk Westaway, Executive Chef of Jaan, Fantin shared that he may have moved almost 10,000km eastward, but Treviso and all it represents aren’t that far from his mind.

What do you recall best about your childhood meals and your grandmother’s cooking? Z

Italian families take meals seriously. Everybody must eat together and you can’t leave the table until everyone is done, so the meal must be really good; otherwise you can make excuses that you don’t like this or that. I’m the middle of three boys and while my parents were at work, my grandmother was in charge of our meals. She put a lot of love for us in the food and this made me realise that cooking is an act of love, because you’re trying to pass some message to the ones eating what you make, even if it’s a few bites. I was inspired, seeing her wake up early to ready a fire, go to the market, and return to chop and cook. It’s basically what I do every day now, minus the media interviews – she didn’t have those. ( laughs)

And we hear you insist on cooking for your family...

On Sundays in Italy, my grandmother would make a large lasagne with thyme, and I remember my brothers and I would fight over the best part of it: the burnt, crispy bits. Now I live in Japan, where you don’t need to cook if you don’t want to – you can find good food everywhere. If you go to a department store to buy something, you may forget about it minutes after you’ve eaten it. But you’ll remember the experience of a home-cooked meal for the rest of your life. That’s why I try to cook as much as I can, especially for my kids, and maybe, they’ll remember it when they’re older. Or maybe they’ll pick up some skills to impress some girlfriend!

What did you enjoy so much about cooking that you made it your career?

I love everything in the kitchen: cooking, creating new dishes, seeing the reaction of customers and having them return. I might not see them for a year and they come back to tell me: “When I was last here, I had the ravioli and it was unforgettable,” and this kind of feeling... I also like to visit farms to understand how producers and growers do what they do, and then elaborate on those ingredients to give more life on the plate. This I never get bored of.

What took you to Japan?

I had gone to Japan before for three months to study Japanese cuisine, but I spent long hours working in the restaurant, so I left the country without getting to know it. And while I was working in Rome, a friend told me that a company in Japan was seeking a chef. I said: “I’m 29, so I don’t know if I can manage a whole restaurant.” But he replied: “You can learn. You don’t often get the opportunity to take over a restaurant like that, in the centre of Ginza, a beautiful location, with enough staff to create your own cuisine and concept.” I was a young child when I arrived, but I’ve grown a lot since.

The restaurant is operated by Bvlgari Hotels & Resorts. Did this affiliation inspire the way you framed the culinary programme?

Bvlgari is a very old brand from a traditional background, its jewellery has history behind it, but it’s contemporary too. And my cuisine is based on traditional flavours, but I try to make it original and elegant

on the plate. Bvlgari and I work for the same goal: to create beautiful experiences for the customer, and the restaurant is an extension of the Italian lifestyle Bvlgari is happy to share. This is why the brand has launched hotels around the world: It understands the value of the experience; it’s not simply about acquiring a piece of jewellery.

In the nine years you’ve been in Japan, have you noticed changes in the locals’ appreciation of Italian cuisine?

They’re more open to it than before, so they can eat pasta and risotto al dente. This kind of preparation can be tricky, because it’s not their culture to eat pasta. I remember at the beginning, they would send back the pasta many times, saying it’s too hard. This still happens in Bali’s Il Ristorante – Luca Fantin, but less so in Japan now.

What’s a recent highlight of your career?

Mentoring Yasuhiro Fujio of Japan to win the S.pellegrino Young Chef 2018 competition – it’s one of the best moments in my experience, to work with an up-and- coming chef and develop dishes with him for the final competition. To have done something that benefitted another gives me even greater satisfaction than earning a title for myself.