Born at Pontedera in Tuscany in 1973, Marco Stabile has carved a name for himself as a chef who re-imagines traditional Italian dishes with modern techniques. After working in several restaurants, he honed his skill at the two Michelin-star Alforno. In 2005, he opened his own restaurant in Florence, Ora d’Aria, and in 2011, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star.
The genial chef, who is in Bengaluru for a six-day pop-up at Caprese, Shangri – La Hotel till January 26, sits down for a chat with MetroPlus.
Excerpts:
How did you start out on your journey of becoming a chef?
As a child, I decided I like to help my mother in the kitchen because I could not play football. In Italy, everybody played football. And because my mother had four children, she cooked a lot and it was different every day. Then I chose to go to a culinary school and started in a trattoria. I started to work with a lot of covers and very small staff so I learned to cook fast (laughs). I met good teachers of classic traditional Tuscan cooking who taught me the traditions. I learned my tradition where I was born but also learnt Florence gastronomy. I never forget the tradition when making a new dish. I always start from my history and then I go forward. I worked in a two Michelin star restaurant (also in Tuscany) Alforno and there I learnt elegant presentation. After this, we have the taste and that starts in the ingredients. So, another thing that I learnt is to choose ingredients with passion. Go to the farm to see how they grow, go to the cheesemaker to see how they make cheese... Because after this, when we put a dish on the table, we tell the story to the guest with a dish.
- We don’t do just simple dishes. One wrong thing is that when we do some dish that is more complicated, people say it is French cooking. No. For example, lasagna is complicated to do very well.
- We love risotto and pasta al dente. We are not just spaghetti and pizza. And we are not just tomato and mozzarella. People always search for three things: mozzarella, pasta pomodoro (pasta with tomato), which is for a child. And bolognese. Bolognese is just in Bologna. In Florence, we don’t do bolognese.
- Now, in Italy we do pasta arrabiata but just in pizzerias. Arrabiata is just a modern invention. And we don’t have alfredo. Nobody eats alfredo pasta.
- In Italy, pasta an important dish. It is not the main dish, but we don't have lunch or dinner without pasta.
You have stated that travel is important for a chef. Can you elaborate on that?
It is important to try other cultures and to be curious. Curiosity moves the world. If you are not curious, you don’t say anything. Because you taste (the dish) and you say ‘okay’ (shrugs). But if you are curious, you taste it and you want to know how they do this. You go to see, to learn, to have it become part of you. Also, sometimes, you can use something else to make the dish better. This is very interesting, because sometimes I try a very old Tuscan recipe and it is missing something. I need a very fresh note so maybe I put lemongrass. We don’t have lemongrass in Italy, you understand. You have it in India, in Thailand…
There seems to be an interesting story behind the name of your restaurant. Can you tell us what it is?
When we opened the restaurant in 2005, it was situated in front of a prison. In a prison, the only nice thing is, for one hour a day you go outside the cell, look at the sky and breathe fresh air. Ora d’Aria (Hour of Air) is the name of the restaurant. We want to tell where we were but in a positive way. In Ora d’Aria, you can relax and take your time and forget your normal life for one or two hours. In 2010, we moved the restaurant near the most famous museum in Florence. Because the walls are very thick and old, you can’t even use your cellphone in the restaurant.
What are the future plans for the restaurant? Another Michelin star perhaps?
It is a nice question because I am changing a lot of things in the restaurant (laughs). I started in December and we finish around May. We have the same idea that guests must feel good but we are changing the way of presentation. Also I am going to take very very, very, very old recipes (500 years and older); and I am doing this with people who study gastronomy. And I will mix this with future techniques (laughs). Maybe I want to work on a second Michelin star with these changes. I have very few seats (a total of 30) and I need to increase them. But also, satisfaction is very important for me. Increase the quality, not just the price.
What are some of the staples of Tuscan cuisine?
We have a lot of dishes with bread. As a lot of people are involved in agriculture, they prepare bread on Sunday for the whole week. In Tuscany, the bread has no salt. So, in three days, it becomes hard. For that reason, we invented a lot of recipes. Panzanella, pappa al pomodoro, ribollita (cabbage bean soup)… Without bread, we don’t eat. In November every year, we have new olive oil. We love to do bruschetta with the new oil on top. When it is new, olive oil is very bitter and very spicy. We become crazy for this.
For reservations, call 45126460 or email caprese.slbl@shangri-la.com. Lunch is from noon to 3.30 pm while dinner is from 7 pm to 11.30 pm.
