Through food I succeed

Today I am presenting Nicolò, chef de partie at Maso Burba, restaurant included in Michelin Guide located in Val di Sole, Italy. He will tell us about his story to become a chef. A successful one, including difficulties and and victories.

Hi Nicolò, I know you are making great progress on your path to becoming a successful chef, how did you realize this was the right path for you?

Hi Giada, particularly when you try different activities and you finally find something that you are really good at it, no because the others tell you but because you feel it This is the thing that makes spur you to keep going and do better.

Besides, I have also a more common reason that helped me understand which path to follow, in fact even if working as a cook is a difficult and hard job, I love when people enjoy what I prepare for them. 

After you made your decision, how did you pursue your dream?

When I started it was very hard for me because I had never worked in a high level cuisine. I needed a lot of time to be able to organize my work and the products orders. Then when I learnt and understood how to work fast and conscious of my operations, I could finally start and try something different and do an upgrade to the first dishes and start to have someone in charge. So now I am able to share what I know, and to look after my colleagues, organizing my work wile keeping to learn and improve my culinary knowledge. 

What did you learn from your experience at the Maso Burba restaurant, I know it is one of the restaurants included in the Michelin guide? How useful will this be to you in the future?

The first thing that comes into my mind is actually organizing the ingredients orders and my work. Additionally I could really understand how the team work functions and thanks to all these factors, now I can find a way out from different difficult situations that in a cuisine are recurring. At the beginning I used to panic and just make things worse trying to resolve everything by myself, actually instead I know that the team work will help me, or my colleagues, to resolve and prevent the problem we could face.

I know that after the winter season you decided to change in order to increase your culinary knowledge, which area would you like to focus on?

Yes, I am planning to change cuisine, and maybe start to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant. I would like to go to a kitchen with new machines and learn new techniques. A big dream would be start approaching the oriental dishes. Actually I don’t have a particular goal in that field because it would be a new one for me, that means new products and ingredients, totally different from the ones we are used to employ in the Mediterranean diet. Currently I am analyzing the options I have for the next season. 

Is there any advice you would like to give to those who are thinking of taking your same path? 

The first advise that comes it to my mind is to study to comprehend the real essence of each product and spices. This is a work that pretends precision and imagination, I am sure that the studying are a good base from where start building your future and from which get inspired. In addition, I’d say from day one get used to write down everything that comes into your mind, every recipe and everything you have to order. 

Ask every time you need advice, but sometime try to do your own thing, because even if you make mistakes 9 times out of 10 you learn as much from those mistakes as from the victories.

Rumour has it that starting out on such a path at the age of 24 with no studies is a tall order, but you have come to show great results in a short time, what can you tell me about this?

If you start to work in a cuisine you have to be decisive, although I was, I had many doubts that I made the wrong choice. But I did not get scared and although I do not remember those moments with happiness I am satisfied with the progress. i think that the saying the quiet after the storm, reflects a lot my journey as a cook until now.

Is there anything else you would like to tell us? I guess that when it comes to dreams and experiences there is something that remains silent, how would you like to conclude our chat?

You will always have doubts doing this work also because it takes up a lot of time, you will always have to find something to hold on to, I am particularly talking about passion and support.

In my future I hope to be able to attend a barbecue course in order to improve my skills in different kind of preparation and products mixing. 

I hope one day to have my own business where I can make the rules and decide which products to choose according to their origin and quality but also according to the package, I think that the wastefulness of plastic in this field is extreme.

Besides, I’d like to conclude our chat with this pearl of wisdom: you always have to put wrap at the end of each preparation!