2010 2 0 1 0 sapori THE TERROIR OF OSTERIA MORINI: ITALY + NEW YORK MENTOR FROM AFAR: GIANLUIGI MORINI FAST FOOD: SPEEDY CARS AND REVERED PRODUCTS Italy’S BREADBASKET: DISCOVER EMILIA-ROMAGNA INHERENT DOMAIN: MICHAEL WHITE’S RECIPES “One of the things we always talk about is how restaurants rise from the terroir—much the same as when you talk about wine. Restaurants rise from their location.” —Chris Cannon Alto, Marea, and Convivio each have a “Alto has that Prada/Armani feeling.” Marea “One of the things we always talk about is how distinct style and personality, and much is on Central Park in Columbus Circle. Here, restaurants rise from the terroir—much the same of this stems from the restaurant setting Cannon and Michael White went for a truly as when you talk about wine. Restaurants rise from itself. Take Convivio in Tudor City—it has a cosmopolitan feel: “We looked at the park their location. New York has a thousand different warm, modern design with southern Italian and played off the great light. With that neighborhoods, feelings, and demographics, and so we food, very Mediterranean in style. Alto, in the gorgeous expanse of green right there, we try to tailor the restaurant not only to the neighborhood, bustling business area of East 53rd Street, is evoked an earthy, natural feeling.” Sleek, but to the terroir of Manhattan.” > extremely stylized and executes high-profile clean, and bright, it is regarded as one of northern Italian food. As Chris Cannon puts it, New York’s finest seafood establishments. E milia - romagna OSTERIA DA MORINI 5 7 11 12 14 16 18 The Mentor Fast Track to Food Italy’s Breadbasket On the Stove Sparkling Cousin On the Road Osteria Morini is The Emilia-Romagna Nowhere in Italy is The eminently Prosecco, Italy’s own From regional named after Gianluigi towns of Bologna, food more revered gastronomical region sparkling wine, is delicacies to osterias, Morini, founder of Imola, Modena, and than in Emilia- of Emilia-Romagna is finally getting some antique markets to the renowned San Parma are home to Romagna, known as a constant source of well-deserved, Renaissance squares, Domenico restaurant fast cars, incredible Italy’s breadbasket— inspiration for Michael and long-overdue, Emilia-Romagna has in Imola. Signor food, and a rich the source of White’s recipes. attention. a wealth of delights Morini continues to history. Parmigiano-Reggiano, to discover. Chris be Michael White’s prosciutto di Parma, Cannon and Michael mentor from afar. balsamic vinegar, and White point out their tortellini. favorite restaurants, hotels, and places to visit. sapori • 2010 3 OSTERIA DA MORINI This new restaurant, Chris Cannon and Michael White’s first venture downtown, might just be their most ambitious to date. It overlooks a quaint square just north of little Italy and east of cobblestoned SoHo. Cannon describes it as a little square one could find somewhere in Italy, which plays perfectly into the restaurant aesthetic, modeled after a cozy, small-town trattoria. Both Cannon and White point out that while Emilia-Romagna, where White spent eight To feed their inspiration, Cannon and White toured the word trattoria, much like brasserie and years getting his Italian culinary and cultural the area and ate in more than 15 trattorias. Emilia- bistro, has become a generic term on the education, is a region with an old soul. And Romagna’s cuisine is gutsy and soulful, the home of American restaurant scene, in Italy it is a it’s packed with trattorias. “When you go to meaty Bolognese ragù and tortellini in thick broth. The distinctive type of dining establishment. Emilia-Romagna, it feels like Italy 50 years region produces the cured meats (think prosciutto and Historically, trattorias were places where ago,” explains Cannon. “The real stuff is mortadella) and Parmesan that have become symbols working-class people went to eat, known for all around. You will see these 60-year-olds of Italian flavor worldwide. The regional cuisine itself their genuine, hearty cuisine at reasonable riding bikes in their beautiful coats—it’s like has not been fully translated in America, so the goal at prices. While real trattorias still exist in looking at a Fellini movie happening right this new establishment is to be as faithful as possible to modern Italy, they are few and far between. there in front of you.” the original flavors. > sapori • 2010 5 While Cannon jokes that his “liver was hanging out by On the menu are such traditional dishes as the end of our trip,” the mood of a trattoria goes well Bolognese ragù; fresh, handmade pastas; beyond the menu. The ambiance is a far cry from their and fire-roasted meats, and they’re even more formal uptown restaurants, with casual seating, working on getting local Emilian wines on tap. no reservations, and communal tables. The space at Even White, an Italian veteran, is convinced: Petrosino Square required a total overhaul from the “You’re going to think you’re in Italy!” inside out. They completely refaced the building so that Their enthusiasm is palpable, and their it blends in with something you’d find in Bologna or dedication genuine. “We’re just two American Emilia—same colors, same style—and totally gutted guys in love with Italy, and we want to express the interior, bringing everything in from Italy. to people the joy that is to be found in Italian According to White, the feeling of a real trattoria takes food,” says White. “That’s what we keep years to acquire. “We junked out a farmhouse from going back to. It’s not conceptual, it’s trying the 1700s, taking it apart brick by brick, and shipped to evoke these great flavors and lightness. them all over here. The doors from the bedrooms are People are so shocked. It’s so simple, but it’s the doors of the bathrooms; the timbers on the ceiling unbelievable.” are the real thing. So many architects put fake wood beams on the ceiling. We want people to see this and say, ‘Wow!’ A cast-iron door has been welded on the front. It’s amazing!” In addition to the raw materials, the details, too, are authentic. Says White, “We picked up old prints, soccer bandiere (scarves), antiques, and even mixed in some family memorabilia. We are serving wine in carafes— “We junked out a farmhouse from the really rustic, fun, and great. Even the tiles on the walls are original.” 1700s, taking it apart brick by brick, and shipped them all over here.” 106 2010 • sapori THE GENTLEMAN FROM IMOLA: GIANLUIGI MORINI Michael White cut his teeth in Italy over the course of eight years, many of them spent in Imola working alongside Gianluigi Morini, the founder of San Domenico restaurant. White’s admiration for Morini is tangible: “Not He helped me absorb these nuances. I worked only is he considered one of the forefathers of with him for many years in the restaurant— fine Italian dining, but he’s a staunch person, so many stories, such great food. You’ll find one of the last gentlemen in Italy.” the same flavors that I learned from him then in my restaurants now.” At his father’s request, Morini graduated with an accounting degree. While studying, he Morini designed his menu to be a developed an interest in theater and, later, film. contemporary take on traditional flavors. He Before he opened his restaurant, he worked brought in Nino Bergese, a grand chef who at Rome’s Experimental Cinema Center. Film had worked in prestigious restaurants in and remains one of his favorite hobbies, and he out of Italy. Bergese put in place a strictly in- has garnered almost as much respect as a house policy, making everything fresh on-site, director as he has as a chef and sommelier. from the pasta and bread to the desserts, and using only local ingredients of the highest Before he opened San Domenico, Morini quality. examined restaurants throughout Italy, and even in other countries, with the goal of Morini, Bergese, and the chefs that followed creating a made-to-order establishment maintained the highest standards for their comprising everything he liked best. In the menus—because, according to Morini, “The late 1960s, he took over one of his father’s guest should be respected. They come to take family restaurants, a 20-table place, and pleasure in our creations.” executed every detail with extreme care— San Domenico continues to set the bar for heavy fuchsia tablecloths, fine linen on the exceptional and inventive cuisine that never walls, crystal glasses, silver serving dishes, loses sight of its traditional roots, and Morini candleholders, elegant flatware, and fresh prides himself on pleasing his diners. He’s flowers every day. The look was that of an also particularly proud of his sizable wine exclusive private club. It opened its doors to cellar, stocked with fine wines that exalt the public in 1970. the subtleties of each item on the menu to “He loves to eat; he’s a true buongustaio,” complete the experience of the guests. Says White remembers fondly. “He implanted this Morini, “I am in the business of happiness.” in me. He’s one of my mentors who really showed me Italian culture and how people eat. Ristorante San Domenico Via G. Sacchi 1 Imola 40026 +39 0542 29000 sandomenico.it sapori • 2010 1177 Leblon_Haute_Life.indd 1 4/13/09 12:35 PM inspiration 10 2010 • sapori E MILIA- R OMAGNA Situated in north-central Italy, the region of Emilia-Romagna extends diagonally with its eastern border along the Adriatic Sea.