“The place I like best in this world is the kitchen.
No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it’s a kitchen, if it’s a place where they make food, it’s fine with me. Ideally it should be well broken in. Lots of tea towels, dry and immaculate. Where tile catching the light (ting, ting!)”
Quoted from Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
These are the first lines from Banana Yoshimoto’s book and this how my life joggling with pans started.
As a child I remember that whatever I did, I did it in the kitchen, playing , homework or reading a book. I also remember I always wore my pyjamas in the kitchen before going to bed, because I used to put it to warm near the stove where a pot was always there with something good inside.
Over the years, and seeing my parents who prepared our meals with so much love, I realized that I was growing a passion and love for cooking, so much so that after middle school I chose to enroll at the hotel school of Barolo.
After school I completed some internships in Piedmont to see if this was my real vocation, I worked in Monforte d’Alba in the Giardino restaurant “by Felicin” and in La Collina restaurant, then in Cornale at the Cascina del Cornale, in Orta at the
the Osteria dell’Antico Agnello and in Piana Biglini at the La Paruzza restaurant.
Finally I realized this was the way I wanted to go and I have undertaken it, but I am just at the beginning of my journey and who knows where it will take me?
My name is Ivano Bertolotto, my cuisine is based on simple tastes, on fresh and selected products.
I like to prepare traditional dishes reinterpreted in a modern twist and to create new ones that express local tastes and smells reminiscent of memories and emotions from the past.
Being a Chef means loving and respecting your region, the seasonal produce and the people who eat the food you prepare for them.