By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
A joyful Italian chef from Tuscany offers fresh and simple Italian food at Marco Polo, the Grand InterContinental's Mediterranean restaurant, until Feb. 21.
Antonio Fallini, 45, was born in a town near Lake Como, northern Italy. He started cooking when he was 15 and has spent 30 years in kitchens around the world, including two years at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. Now, he's the executive chef of Hotel Relais Borgo San Felice, a boutique hotel located in the middle of Tuscan wine country, just one hour away from the city of Florence.
A sommelier of the Grand InterContinental found out about the boutique hotel and fine dining in Sienna during the promotion of the winery of San Felice and recommended the chef visit Seoul to present his authentic Tuscan creations.
``Tuscany is the culture of Italy. The language and all the works of the Renaissance are from Florence,'' Fallini told The Korea Times during an interview Wednesday. ``I like this region very much because I like the wine and we are just one hour from the Mediterranean Sea,'' he added.
Located in the heart of Italy, Tuscany has a wide range of fresh local ingredients. When asked about representative ingredients or dishes, Fallini said, ``Tuscan cuisine is a typical Italian dish. We use ingredients from mountain, sea, plain and lake of Tuscany. Olive oil is one of the most important ingredients and Chianina beef, the Italian breed for white cow, is also popular. I think, for a chef, Tuscany is one of the most beautiful regions to work.''
For example, ricotta cheese and spinach ``gnudi'' is a kind of gnocchi, or Italian dumpling. The plain and simple taste immediately fascinated the chefs of the Grand InterContinental. ``Tuscan food is simple, light and modern at the same time,'' Fallini said.
Others items of this Tuscan banquet includes chick pea soup with homemade straccetti pasta and delicious veal tenderloin medallion. Also eye-catching are dishes such as the beef tenderloin carpaccio with armigiana reggiano and balsamic vinegar and the steamed sea bass with aromatic herbs. To make these dishes more authentic, Fallini brought olive oil, another famous product of San Felice, himself.
The Winemaker's Dinner on Thursday was the highlight of the promotion, featuring a six-course dinner and six matching wines for each dish. Fallini recommended two wines from the San Felice winery, both included in the dinner; Vigorello, a strong red wine chosen as the first Super Tuscan, and Brunello di Montalcino, another red wine that goes well with meat, especially veal.
He also brought his sous-chef, Luca Lodovici, to Korea. ``When you have to prepare banquet like this, you have to work in a pair. Just one chef is not enough,'' Fallini said of him.
During this short stay in Korea, he's visited the local markets and found an interesting fruit that does not exist in Europe, the Korean pear. ``When you see the market, you can see what's going on in the country,'' he said.
Fallini has visited or will visit 52 countries for work and holiday this year. ``This is one of the greatest things I have made in my life. And no one can steal it, since it's inside of me,'' the chef said.