Gualtiero Marchesi

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Gualtiero Marchesi

Born 1930 (age 78)
Milan, Italy
Official Website

Gualtiero Marchesi (born 1930) is a renowned Italian Chef, considered to be the founder of modern Italian Cuisine.

Born in 1930 in Milan his parents ran a hotel and restaurant "L'Albergo del Mercato" in Via Bezzecca. It was here that he had his first experiences in the kitchen.

Two of his relatives, Luigi Ghisoni, who had been a chef at the Ritz, Madeira before he joined Marchesi's father running the business, and Domenico Bergamaschi, chef at Albergo del Mercato, were major influences on Gualtiero. He identified their ability to prepare traditional recipes perfectly, but also their talent of enhancing the flavour of simple ingredients.

At 17 he left school to work at the Hotel Klum in St. Moritz. He then studied at a hotel school in Lucerne before returning to work at Albergo del Mercato. There he prepared traditional recipies for lunch but in the evening was given a free hand to experiment. He built a following for his avant-garde cuisine.

Gualtiero is an accomplished musician and follower of music. Through this he met his wife a piano soloist and daughter of a famous soprano.

Gualtiero then worked at the “Ledoyen” in Paris, "Le Chapeau Rouge” in Dijon and “Troigros” in Roanne. On his return to Milan, he opened a small hotel with his parents, which he ran until 1977.

He then opened his first restaurant on Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. Within a year he earned his first Michelin star, with another following the next year. It took another seven years, but then he eventually won the distinction of a third Michelin star – the first chef in Italy to do so.

In September 1993, Marchesi moved out of Milan to Franciacorta, between Bergamo and Brescia. He opened the Ristorante di Erbusco in the Albereta Hotel where his vision of global cuisine took root and flourished.

His restaurant Gualtiero Marchesi di San Pietro all'Orto in Milan, opened in 1998 and is a mix of traditional cooking and modern technology. It is also a cooking academy.

He opened a restaurant in Paris in 2001. In January 2001, he opened Ostaria dell’Orso, the oldest restaurant in Rome, located in a palace dating back to 1400 AD.

[edit] Honours

  • 1986 Ambrogino d’Oro
  • 1989 Personnalité de l’année for gastronomy
  • 1990 Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
  • 1991 Commendatore della Repubblica
  • 1999 Longobardo d’Oro
  • The Laurea Honoris Causa in Food Science from the Universitas Sancti Cyrilli in Rome

Grand Prix ‘Memoire et Gratitude’, awarded by the International Academy of Gatronomy.

He was one of the founders of Euro-Toques, an association of some 3000 of the world’s most important chefs, and was its international president (2000-2002).

As the University Rector of ALMA, which offers the first International Masters degree in Italian cuisine, Marchesi hopes to improve Italian catering and restaurant managemnt. [1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links