It’s all in the quality

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We have ample stock of food grains: FM

: Walter Lanfranchi

Executive chef

Shangri-La, Delhi

Italians are passionate about food. No surprises there, especially when they happen to be chefs and even when they have been outside Italy for the last 13 years. The just arrived executive chef at the Shangri-la hotel, Delhi is still finding his fresh fish here, especially as the choices are woefully short compared to that at his previous posting, Singapore, where he could go out any day and get 12 different kinds of oysters, an activity he clearly misses, given his wistful tone at imparting the anecdote. But years of working with one of east Asia’s landmark chains sees Walter Lanfranchi confident of taking on the challenge here as well. Despite travelling a long way from his hometown of Casnigo, just off Bergamo in Lombardy, north Italy, the passion for simple authentic food is amply evident as his eyes light up while talking about them to Suman Tarafdar.

Quality, product, consistency —that’s what makes a dish successful. Even for a simple dish like tomato and spaghetti, if the tomatoes are not right, then the result is not the same. Italian cuisine has succeeded around the world as we have stuck to the traditions, even when chefs are learning from other places and incorporating some elements in their dishes. For me, Italian cuisine is all about olive oil, pasta and cheese. The cuisine is simple and not masked by spices.

At our restaurant, 19 Oriental Avenue, which offers Thai, Chinese and Japanese cuisines, we stick to the authenticity of the dish and do not want to mix. A major challenge in India still is to find the right products, quality and consistency are still missing.