Instinctive and theatrical yet rational, a nonconformist spirit and a disruptive visionary. Giancarlo Morelli is an empathetic and exacting chef and entrepreneur, committed to a cuisine of tradition, research and conviviality, and to his vocation as mentor and patron, passing knowledge on to emerging chefs. Respect for ingredients and a gentle cross-fertilisation of flavours and worlds have allowed his creative and business universe to expand over time into a Morelli constellation at the highest level of dining.
Do clothes make the man? It depends: sayings and proverbs do not suit everyone, nor are they dogmas. With Giancarlo Morelli, the outfit fits a character who has little that is traditional, let alone predictable. Obvious as it sounds, just look at him: irregularly framed glasses and shorts, always, summer and winter, a way of life rather than an attempt to astonish anyone. That is simply who he is. Yet, as Jo Squillo and Sabrina Salerno sang in an old Sanremo tune, there is more to him than his legs. With this chef and entrepreneur from Bergamo, one emerges alive from the 1980s; it is a question of being and appearing, with all due respect to Reagan-era hedonism.
It begins a long way back, with a passion for gastronomy and experimentation, and with curiosity. From there came a path of culinary creativity that is rigorous and elegant, without easy excess or any wish to surprise for its own sake. Giancarlo has depth and attentiveness: one conversation with him is worth a hundred, and certainly need not be confined to his work. Here, however, the focus is his profession as chef and restaurant entrepreneur. A performer and a master, a nonconformist spirit with charm and a disruptive vision.
A culinary constellation
It all began with the founding of Pomiroeu in Seregno in the 1990s: both a beginning and a fixed point in a creative and business universe that continued to expand. Today, the Morelli constellation includes Morelli Ristorante and Bulk mixology bar, a catering company, an exclusive private dining service for the senior management of a major company inside a tower in Milan’s CityLife district, the restaurant at Golf Club Alpino di Stresa, the kitchen at Tenuta Bertarello in Lazio, and Phi Restaurant in Baia Sardinia, on the Costa Smeralda.
Within this varied ecosystem, his role as entrepreneur and patron is expressed above all in guiding the executive chefs who lead the kitchen brigades in his restaurants. That responsibility carries a vocation for mentorship and exchange with the younger generation. Giancarlo Morelli likes to define himself first and foremost as a cook, remaining rooted in and grateful to his origins and his «sacred fire».
Mastery and memory
Few questions were needed in the conversation mentioned above. It is wiser to give him free rein; that is how you handle thoroughbreds. «I believe mastery is the ability to bring memories back to the surface. When we go out for dinner, we want to taste familiar flavours that are new at the same time. Technique, including marinating and cooking methods, allows us to enrich the individual ingredient. But we should aspire to a gastronomy that can be shared. We are moved by something that brings a sensation back to mind. Today, mine is a cuisine of contemporary tradition. Only through the contemporary can we progress».
The Friends’ Table
The most distilled expression of his personality and approach to life, in which even those irregularly framed glasses celebrate freedom of choice, is the Tavolo degli amici, the Friends’ Table. Set inside the kitchen at Morelli Ristorante, it expresses a pure desire for conviviality. Like a corner of home, it lets guests draw close to the dance of gastronomy and its rhythms, discover the secrets behind each dish and choose their favourite soundtrack from the chef’s extensive vinyl collection. It is a place for sharing, where relationships become authentic and any barriers fall away.
Passing on the baton
This informal, precious space offers an introduction to Morelli’s world and to one of the most important aspects of his cooking: passing knowledge and experience on to the younger generation. In his words again: «They are the central focus of every one of my days. Young people must be able to work with support from institutions, cooks and schools. They need to be involved and allowed to make mistakes. We must share success and failure with them, joys and hardships. We must be teachers, have their backs, value them and then pass on the baton».
Sources and images: Text by Andrea Matteucci. Photo credits: Giancarlo Morelli. All image rights are reserved to their respective rights holders.
