Behind a star there is always a great team, but this is not enough, you need the right location, an owner willing and ready to take risks, a director who accompanies the chef in his adventure with flexibility, but still attentive to costs. This is how Luca Bellanca's team, Mario Mantegazza - supported by his family - and the director Evelyn Mantegazza, began their adventure. The star? Unexpected, but dreamed of.
“Believe me, I never expected it. We hoped to get into the guide, yes, because for the first time, in many years, they contacted us asking for various information, but we never, ever thought of getting a star immediately ».
Excuse me Luca, but how do they choose? Do they come incognito, or do they announce themselves?
“You never know if you have an inspector in the room. Only once did we think that there might be a representative of the Michelin guide, because he was very attentive to everything, but who knows… maybe he was just an over-critical customer. In any case, looking at the guide, the photographs indicate that the inspectors have visited the restaurant several times. This is positive, it means that we have always worked well. Anyway, I will be honest, it is better not to know if there are experts in the restaurant, because you risk losing concentration and when cooking you must always do it with the soul, with the right serenity. If you are nervous… you can use the same ingredients as always… but the dish will not come out as usual (smiles) ».
For you it is the first star ...
«Yes, it is the first star (silence). It's like having a baby (laughs satisfied) ».
A star that will stay with you forever?
«The star is linked to me and to the META. If I were to leave, both the restaurant and I would lose it. The nice thing is that in any case I will always remain a starred chef ».
From your tone we understand that it was a dream ...
“I'd be false to say no, because obviously that's that pat on the back you need to have. Of course the compliments of the customers are very important, but when the experts in the sector tell you, they eat in the best restaurants… you will understand that it is a very high recognition ».
You are very young, is there no risk of getting your head high or wanting more and more?
«Temperamentally I am one with my feet on the ground and I hope to never change. I am often in contact with important people and when I see the waiters who go crazy, people who want to take pictures with them ... I realize that I have never been like this, I am calm, humble, I do not want to change. You know what I think? We are cooks, the heroes are the ones who save lives. I can only do one thing: give a beautiful moment to remember. All cooks should be aware of this, also because when you start to freak out… it's the end of your career ».
How did you find out you received a star?
"I was at the telephone with the director of the META and a message arrives: Greetings! So I'll call this friend back, I hadn't had coffee yet, I ask him, but are you crazy? And he, laughing, tells me, you took a star! ».
You cried?
"Yes, sure, and then I started jumping like crazy, there was my cat looking at me in shock. Nobody else in the restaurant knew it at that time, so I wanted to organize a surprise but Evelyn, the manager, called me back saying that the guide had left… and then I said to her: “Look, I know and they even gave us a star! ". Each of us lived the moment intensely, we have sweated a lot in recent years and such recognition repays us for all the efforts made ».
But excuse me you had announced yourself to the Michelin guide or was it a coincidence?
"We never announced ourselves to the Michelin guide because we didn't feel ready, before we were in the basement, then we opened the new restaurant and the pandemic arrived, so there didn't seem to be one of the most suitable times. We would have done it anyway. The credit goes to our customers, who believed in us and wrote directly to the guide, this aspect is also fantastic and fills me with pride ».
Excuse me, but now we must also ask the owner, Mario Mantegazza and the director Evelyn Mantegazza how they reacted ...
«I have always believed in Luca and I am very proud, also because it is not the first recognition that the restaurant receives. However, I cannot hide it, this Michelin star is a unique emotion. It's like winning the European Cup or the Olympics, everyone would like to get there, but few succeed. I also have to thank my family who asked me to take care, among other things, of the restaurant and believed in my ideas. I was very keen to bring something special inside the Palazzo that bears our name and in addition to my wife, who took care of the furniture and worked hard by my side every day, in addition to all the Mantegazza I also have to thank friends, tenants, regular customers, who believed in us and supported us ».
While for you Evelyn? A young director who is putting her heart into her work and who is rewarded with a star ...
«I didn't really sleep, I spent a sleepless night knowing that the following day the Michelin guide would proclaim the new Stars in Switzerland. In the morning, or rather at dawn, I immediately went to the office and looked online for the new guide, or at least some clues. Then I heard Luca, he already knew it, but I didn't want to believe it then around ten in the morning, in short, after an eternity, I peeked at the Instagram profile of the Michelin guide and saw that our restaurant was among the first proclaimed in the category “New Michelin Star”. The emotion I felt was indescribable, intense, a mixture of euphoria, exaltation, incredulity. It was one of those days that I will remember all my life. "
Let's get back to you Luca, how did you get to META?
“A little by chance. I arrived in Lugano in 2013, first I was in Spain, then I worked for a catering company in the Bellinzona area and when a friend of mine told me that Metamorphosis was looking for a sous chef, I applied. My adventure started like this until we moved to the new restaurant with a new name: META ».
When you talk you can feel your immense passion for cooking, from whom did you inherit it?
«I have an extraordinary mother in the kitchen, eighty kilos of softness and pure passion. My family has Sicilian origins and everything revolves around the table, the scent of fresh products, being together, chatting, eating. For me cooking is love, feeling good, I still remember when I woke up in the morning and smelled the homemade lasagna, let's face it ... I played it easy because the nose is refined, the taste is prepared ... I have to say thanks to my mother ".
A dish that you miss?
«I worked abroad for many years and when I returned home my mother always asked me what I wanted to eat. She would have been willing to cook the world for me, yet I always wanted the same thing: pasta with tomato sauce and lasagna. Simple dishes, but with a flavor (look at the sky) that I can't describe to you, also because my mother's tomato preserve is unique, it has no rivals! ».
For this reason you are so attentive to the quality of the products you use in the kitchen and you often see yourself at the market ...
“I go there every Tuesday morning (smiles). I have a farmer who prepares me some herbs, mini-vegetables, but not only ... to make butter, he thinks, I go to Airolo to get the cream. This is my life, a continuous research, a search for unique local products of excellent quality ».
One of your latest creations ...
«I like to contaminate local products. We are fortunate to have excellent quality meat, fantastic lake fish. For example, during Sapori Ticino, my team and I proposed ceviche made with lake fish. At a time when no one can travel, we have prepared a revisited dish to give the customer an exotic sensation ».
You are tireless (we laugh). Did you know from an early age that you wanted to dedicate your life to cooking?
«Yes (convinced). After compulsory school I attended the hotel school in Varese. I had two great professors. It is very important to find good and calm teachers. I've also had professors yelling, throwing pans, but I've never shared their methods. When you cook, you teach, you have to put your soul into it, my cooking is made of love and I think that customers are able to perceive it. As soon as I received the star, I called my teachers and chefs with whom I worked, I thanked them, because I am convinced that we must never, ever forget where we come from and above all we must always thank those who have made our successes possible ».
You talked about stressed chefs, unfortunately there were also great chefs, known all over the world, who couldn't stand up to so much pressure ...
“It's no secret, our profession is stressful, especially at certain levels. Not only for the inspectors who may come and therefore for the constant pressure to always do well, but also for the costs: we have the responsibility to propose good dishes because our customers have high expectations. So you can imagine our work is adrenaline-pumping and stressful at the same time. For this reason we must never lose sight of the love for cooking and realize that making mistakes is possible, we are not machines. Having said that, mistakes must be corrected, avoided and only with a close-knit and motivated team can this be done ».
You talk a lot about your family, are you married?
«I am single and happy. It doesn't take long to realize that this job almost completely absorbs you. We always work, in the evenings, on weekends… It is problematic to start a family, because, for those who are not in the trade, it is difficult to understand. You can have a wife, children, but you would hardly ever see them; when you wake up they are not there and when they return home you leave for work…. It's not easy, I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's complicated and for now I'm fine with my big cat ».
I guess you don't even have much free time ...
"A little bit. My friends always complain about having to book months in advance (laughs). And then the little free time I dedicate to my family, to which I am very attached, so there is no Sunday that I don't go to my parents' house, in Varese, to taste my mother's dishes ».
Do you ever cook for yourself?
«Before the lockdown I never cooked. But then I was forced to equip my kitchen and now I prepare some dish for myself, usually simple things, but if I am low in tone I give myself new, refined dishes that absorb my mind and heart ».
Your main dishes?
«I really love pasta, but I have to be honest I like cooking at 360 degrees, I like sweets, fish, meats, I am lucky enough to say that I like everything. You know our cuisine is special, sometimes we peel the peas one by one and even if there are other people who could do it for me, most of the time I do it, because it makes me think, it relaxes me, in that moment I don't think about anything. This is to make you understand the variety of tasks that exist in a kitchen and that even the chef is called upon to perform more tasks ».
How will the META card change after this star?
«Now my greatest desire is to intensify the experience of a journey through various dishes, flavors, smells, sensations. I would like our customers, sitting at the table, to be able to enjoy each course ».
Will the word now also to the director, Evelyn Mantegazza, change anything after this star?
«Our essence will not change, of course we will study a new menu, as the chef has just said about a sensory journey and we will always focus on quality, we will choose products based on seasonality trying to find the zero kilometer material. In a difficult period like this it is important to help and encourage each other, even the gastronomy has suffered a lot from this pandemic, for this reason our desire will be to help local companies more and more. A menu is the set of many factors, many times we think only of who created it, who cooks it, but behind our dishes, our wine list, there are farmers, winemakers, but also the customers who with their criticisms and their appreciation make us grow day after day ».
I would like to ask Mario Mantegazza one last question, what does this new star mean for Ticino, for Lugano?
«To be precise, we are in Paradiso (smiles) and we are very lucky to be really overlooking the lake, divided by a newly renovated green area, which gives our guests the feeling of being in the Mediterranean area. What really strikes me is that in any case in the Lugano area alone there are four starred restaurants, three of which overlook the gulf and the fourth dominates from above. I think that not only us, but the whole world of catering - from all over the Canton - is really doing a great job of image and quality, supported by the enormous effort made by Sapori Ticino and by the constant commitment of the trade associations. Now it is obvious that it is up to politics to recognize the work done and to align with our efforts to promote a territory where the excellence of the local food and wine proposal becomes the right locomotive to pull the train of regional tourism ».
