Alain Ducasse, visiting Naples for the opening of his new restaurant, hopes for a Michelin star for a great pizza chef. Let’s hope it gets heard, and that it’s the first of many.
These days there is a legend of world cuisine walking around Naples. Let’s talk about Alain Ducassea French legend of haute cuisine, with thirty-two restaurants to his name and currently the most starred chef in the world, and still the undefeated holder of the record of having obtained three Michelin stars in three different restaurants, in three different countries. It is located in the capital of Campania in view of its new opening, the “Alain Ducasse Restaurant” on the ninth floor of the Romeo hotel: here he will express his love for local products, and the authenticity of his proposal will be guaranteed by the executive chef Alessandro Lucassino, a Tuscan from Follonica and at Ducasse’s court since twelve years. But we don’t want to talk about his new Italian adventure, but rather about his opinion regarding our pizzerias and the Michelin guide.
Starry pizza?
From someone who has collected twenty-one macarons in his career, second only to another icon of French cuisine, Joel Robuchon with thirty-one, one can expect a certain familiarity with the dynamics of red driving. For us mere mortals it will always remain mysterious, but Alain Ducasse certainly has a much clearer understanding of how the behind-the-scenes work of the rubber inspectors works than we do: therefore hear his opinion on how Italian pizzerias should be considered by Michelin, not it can only arouse stadium-level cheering on our part. “I hope that one day Michelin will also give a star to pizzerias”, hopes the Monegasque master.
An idea with which we can only agree, and not just out of banal parochialism. For years now, places with a format that is very different from the stereotypical fine dining have been making their way among the new Michelin-starred restaurants around the world: sushi counters, street food, ramen bars. This year is the star at “El Califa de Leòn”, a tiny taco kiosk in Mexico City, now as awarded as Lido 84. A sign that the time is not only ripe to finally have starred pizzerias but, given the level of certain places, we are also guilty of being late. Ducasse would also have a suggestion as to who should be the first to gain recognition, effectively starting a revolution: “Frank Pepper. Pepe deserves credit for having given a twist to Neapolitan pizza.” Sacrosanct, not only for its gastronomic qualities, but also for the ability, shown in recent times, to communicate with class to an increasingly international audience, an example that should also be followed by its colleagues who already have stars, often more than a. We therefore hope that in his visits to Campania the chef will also have the opportunity to visit Francesco Martucci, and perhaps, going up the peninsula, stop to discover Seu Illuminati, I Tigli di Padoan, Confine a Milano. And maybe bring everything back to the top of Michelin, hoping 2025 will be the good year.
