Raffaele Vitale he died yesterday afternoon in his home watched over by wife Antonietta and by family members. Thus, at just 69 years of age, one of the greatest protagonists of the rebirth of Campania cuisine passed away, perhaps among the few who managed to find the perfect balance between territorial tradition and the contemporaneity of the dishes, that is, thinking of ancient recipes of poverty post-war for generations of Italians who were weaned on baby food. He had a firm memory of his childhood, the adolescence that began just over ten years after the end of the war, when the streets of his Nocera pthey still smelled of boiled tomatoes for preserves, bread baked hot early in the morning.
This world overwhelmed by the urban homologation of the 60s continued to live in his brilliant mind, transforming what was the gastronomic heritage of the poor people into a cuisine to be served in the modern world awarded by Michelin.
Raffaele was a great architect, a non-nostalgic ambassador of the past, he understood that true luxury today is making, building and eating the best of what our history gave us before the devastating entry of food multinationals into this sector, of the aesthetics that dictated the times of ethics, of that standardization of flavors and customs that not even the totalitarian regimes of the first half of the 20th century were able to create as much as the forced urbanization, the abandonment of the countryside, the demographic disaster of the internal areas.
This is how some iconic, crib-like venues were born, designed for the soul and the tastebuds of customers: the first was Terrasanta in Mater Domini in Nocera, then Casa del Nonno 13 in Mercato San Severino, then 13 in Salerno which became, again under his direction, Casamare. Not to mention Aquapazza in Cetara, the Praia Resort in Calabria and Accurso in Giffoni Valle Piana to name the most important environments he managed to create.
With the same determination with which he looked for a product in the most unthinkable places, so when setting up a place he aimed at recovery, ceramic tiles forgotten in a closet, wood, always wood, exposed tiles and arches, convivial tables, kitchens modern views inserted in contexts designed in the 18th century, a bit like the Pyramids in front of the Louvre. His aesthetic and ethical style won over the Michelin and thus achieved one of the first stars in the internal areas of the province, those less frequented by tourism.
With his “Grandfather’s House 13” reached the Michelin star, but he was not conditioned by it, he did not change his style, on the contrary, he consolidated it by expanding his possibilities and they became a small hotbed of talents who then made their way in this sector.
In recent years he had discovered the richness of Calabria, and it was a topic we discussed a lot among ourselves: this mine of flavors and open sky between the Tyrrhenian and Ionian Sea, to be excavated between Pollino, Sila and Aspromonte, fragments of knowledge and flavors that cannot be reproduced.
But Raffaele wasn’t just this: there are countless young people who worked with him and then flew away, conquering stars left and right. As a Renaissance master, he always managed to convey an overall, all-encompassing vision of the project, be it a place to be built or a simple recipe.
The question was: why do we do this? His human criticism came out in the group exhibitions: he was ready for every call, he never held back, he always aimed straight at the throats of the participants with well-defined flavours, enhanced by knowledge of the product and good cooking technique.
With Berardino Lombardi, Peppe Guida, Peppe Aversa the Fischetti brothers, Antonio Dipino, it represented a middle generation, the one that managed to ferry the tradition of Campania towards modernity, making it readable and usable for everyone, even those who did not have the same tradition behind them. Everyone will miss him very much, but the beauty of his premises and the scent of his dishes will remain.
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