Via dei Banchi Vecchi: the clown will put a smile on your moments of delight.
What is a clown’s heart like? And what if, instead of bowling pins, he would juggle with dishes and flavours?
Via dei Banchi Vecchi. One street, so much silence. We glimpse a discreet local surrounded by little shops. Is it still early: is it working yet?
The door opens revealing a suggestive location. The greatest, Il Pagliaccio di Roma, makes his appearance walking smoothly. Please, do not remain struck in awe, continue with us, we will go over his art. Power to the imagination! The motto of the rebel 60’s and 70’s, which symbol was precisely the clown, a figure with a poetic taste. Fantasy, rebellion and poetry are, today, the soul of Il Pagliaccio by Anthony Genovese, a somewhat rebel Chef, as he likes to define himself. He has Italian origins and a refined French accent: “Today’s cuisine has become a freak show,” he states; “we should recover it”. And with this intention, he undertakes an upstream travel: from France to Italy, passing through Asia.
“Cuisine, that is what we are”
– Anthony Genovese-
Don’t you feel a little bit French? We asked.
“No”. But his elegant pronunciation betrays his denial. He shows us his great respect for France, homeland of high-ranking cuisine par excellence. However, proud of his origins, he says that Italy is as good as France.
According to the chef, into a dish there are no laws, or rules. He thinks that there is a need for new incentives in order to find the right combination for an explosion of flavours. The incentives, to our Chef, come from simple things such as small talk with somebody, or from a product. His inspiration can come from everything, or from nothing. He was very young when he was awarded the first Michelin star: “I was half crazy, well, maybe completely crazy”. He gained the Star when he came back from Malaysia. “What a feeling! But I was too young; I made a lot of mistakes”. Mistakes that were amended by the pass of time. And here is the second, unexpected and hard-earned, Michelin Star. The third one is still pending, and remains in the back of his mind along with many other dreams. Anyway, Anthony Genovese’s main goal is to keep on delighting his customers.
