When did cooks become chefs? When did chefs become celebrities? I asked myself these questions following the 10th season of «Nightmare Kitchens» (Sky Uno), the program starring Antonino Cannavacciuolo in a desperate attempt to transform “distressed” restaurants into acceptable places. I don’t know how much this program is written (I think a lot), I don’t know the actual outcome of the improvements (I remember, years ago, the letter from a reader who didn’t believe in miracles, not even after Cannavacciuolo’s intervention). Perhaps the question with which to begin the piece should have been another: Why does the average restaurant that guaranteed good meals and low prices no longer exist?
Before the cooking craze was rampant on TV, there were only the «Michelin» guides to decree the star rating of a cuisine. Here, I believe Gianfranco Vissani was the first to seek television visibility and, with it, popularity. Then all the others arrived, especially with «MasterChef»: Carlo Cracco, Bruno Barbieri, Giorgio Locatelli and, indeed, Cannavacciuolo. TV made them famous, it gave them rich TV commercials and other jobs (Barbieri now deals with hotels, Alessandro Borghese visits restaurants like an alleged messiah and now issues disgusting labels). Personally I love those who rarely watch TV like, in alphabetical order, Enrico Bartolini, Massimo Bottura and Davide Oldani or who don’t watch TV at all like the legendary Enrico Crippa of «Piazza Duomo» in Alba. Meanwhile, Cannavacciuolo is in Tropea where the very nervous owner of a restaurant risks alienating customers (in truth the reviews on the Internet, for what they’re worth, weren’t that bad). Vincenzo, a self-certified chef, mistreats his wife, daughter and dishwasher and prepares disgusting-looking food. Is it all an act? Then the miracle: completely renovated restaurant (but who pays?), harmony in the kitchen, everyone satisfied, the fish turns into “caught”. Cannavacciuolo can thus dedicate itself to advertising kitchen detergents, which is now the favorite sport and commercial for some starred chefs.
