A bit like the transfer market that will soon go crazy until September, its arrival on Lake Como was the coup of the season on the gourmet cuisine scene. And today the chef Viviana Varese, who closed her starred restaurant in Milan (Viva, inside Eataly Smeraldo) to open – in her words – “two democratic places”, namely Polpo (fish divided into cooking types: steamed, grilled, marinated, raw, fried with an “average receipt of 50/60 euros”), and Faak, both still in Milan, as well as designing the kitchen of Villa Passalacqua in Moltrasio, elected the most beautiful hotel in the world, told Corriere della Sera, interviewed by Laura Vincenti, the reasons for the change and her philosophy.
And the chef started from a strong concept: “Now going to eat in Michelin-starred restaurants is becoming an elite luxury again. It is a market that is not thriving in Milan, hence the choice to always open two more democratic places in the city.” In one of these, Faak, the chef says that “we decided to strictly respect the 40 hours a week: there are two shifts, so we work either from early morning to after lunch or from the afternoon until the evening. So we managed to find staff.”
A result with obvious consequences: “We need to have two teams: this increases costs for us but also for the customer. We will have to get used to paying more, as already happens in the rest of Europe. In Italy food still costs little, almost half, compared to Germany or France.” Despite everything, Viviana Varese guarantees that, from breakfast to pizza and grilled meat, “for lunch the average receipt is 18 euros, for dinner 40”.
Then, however, a mention also of the arrival in Passalacqua, where Viviana Varese has been designing the menus since March: “An opportunity that I didn’t miss. You have a very high level restaurant with great attention to the dining room, something that has been a bit lost over the years. So great service, great classicism.”
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