I
t’s morning coffee time in the terraced gardens of
Rome’s Hotel de Russie and Fulvio Pierangelini
looks every bit the sixty-something rock star in
shades and black Issey Miyake jacket.
“Now you are in Rome, you are in paradise,”
my host smiles, gesturing at the oasis around us.
He sips espresso and tells me the jacket, which
he bought on sale, has been incredibly useful for a
globetrotting chef. Whenever he finds something in
his mouth that he doesn’t care to eat, he pretends to
cough, palms the offending morsel and drops it into
a pocket. In Western Australia a few years ago at the
Margaret River Gourmet Escape Pierangelini found
himself with a mouthful of kangaroo. He didn’t like it- “it’s like a big mouse!” – so he popped it in the Issey.
In the Faroe Islands he was kept busy shovelling
puffin, fermented lamb and live langoustines into his
jacket. “Fermented lamb is one of the most terrible
foods you can have!” he assures me.
Today there will be no need for Pierangelini’s
pockets. He is taking me on a tour of only his
favourite places in Rome.
The celebrated chef, a national treasure in Italy,
was born in the Eternal City but spent much of his life
in Tuscany where he founded the renowned seafood
restaurant Gambero Rosso in San Vicenzo, a fishing
village on the west coast. It had two Michelin stars and
ranked twelfth on The World’s 50 Best list when he
closed it in 2008. His heart wasn’t in it any more.
A year later, he was appointed creative director of
food at élite hotel group Rocco Forte, crafting menus
for properties from Rome (Hotel de Russie) to
Florence (Hotel Savoy) to Frankfurt (Villa Kennedy).
Quite the career change.
In Tuscany he worked lunch and dinner every day
for 28 years (“without me, the restaurant was closed”)
and answered telephone calls himself, infamously
refusing seats to people with poor phone manners.
Now he travels the world overseeing the Rocco Forte
kitchens, including prepping for new properties in
Jeddah, Shanghai and a second Roman address, Hotel
de la Ville, beside the Hassler on Via Sistina.
“It has completely changed my life,” the chef says
of his career change. “I didn’t like to have five chefs
near me and now I have 500. Can you imagine?
“To cook, for me, was always a necessity. But
I had to learn my style, how I cook, so I could teach
others. Before, my work was emotional. Now it is
more technique. And very complicated.”
Life may have changed dramatically but his food
philosophy remains steadfast. “We buy only the best
product. We try to make it simple. Simplicity is a point
of arrival, of course, not a point of departure.”
Diners will still find Pierangelini’s simple but
sublime spaghetti pomodoro on hotel menus, and
PREVIOUS PAGE
Left: pizza bianca
at Roscioli Forno.
Right: gamberi
e scampi at
Meglio Fresco.
Clockwise from
right: Campo de’
Fiori; the cellar at
Il San Lorenzo;
pizza Margherita
at Emma pizzeria;
Il San Lorenzo;
Hotel de Russie.114 GOURMET TRAVELLER