The egotism of chefs, the spotlight on character, the loss of authenticity. Newly MICHELIN-starred Dani Carnero reflects critically on new trends in modern dining.
The Interview
Just days after being awarded a MICHELIN Star at Kaleja, his restaurant in Málaga, Andalusian chef Dani Carnero, whose resume is linked to names such as Martin Berasategui, Las Rejas, Manolo de la Osa and Ferran Adrià, claims the importance of traditional restaurants and the authenticity of being a chef.
@Kaleja
"Cooking has always been a profession and should remain so. I have worked in restaurants that served two hundred diners morning and evening. It seems that efforts are only made by today's cooks, but this system has always existed. Traditional restaurants have never disappeared, but they are invisible to the press compared to other types of cuisine. I have known professionals who did not need to feel like the kings of the kitchen or wear a chef's jacket to make a point. We are cooks. We feed people, nothing else, we nourish. Sure, today, we influence society, we are heard, and the press wants to talk about us, but what we need to focus on is nutrition. If we get carried away by the media circus, there comes a time when we become detached from reality. The reality is that the customer walks in the door and wants to eat and pay. Period. I understood this even more when I opened La Cosmopolita: I tried to recreate that normality that seems to have disappeared," Carnero confides.
Today he runs three restaurants: La Cosmopolita, Kaleja, and La Cosmo. It all started in the former, where Dani expresses 100 percent of his cuisine "of fires and foundations, where tradition is current"; a restaurant where about 45 recipes rotate throughout the year. "There was a moment when I thought about marrying the fine dining approach, but then I saw it wasn´t necessary. No one knows how many times I tried to take out the meatballs, crab omelet, pancake, or tartare and how many protests I received for that," he says. "Kaleja is the restaurant where we are trying to innovate, even work from impulse, the way of cooking with fire. La Cosmo closes the circle because it gives me some of the freedom I had 12 years ago at La Cosmopolita," he continues. La Cosmo, in fact, is a place where the cuisine highlights immediacy and each product.
"I tend to read books that take me to the essence of the old kitchen without falling into the trap of reinterpretation. Reinterpretation is something already seen. I prefer working with memory, trying to make the dish feel that way, and making your hair stand up when you try it because it brings back a memory. Of course, my memory may not be that of a Belgian, but the truth comes to everyone. Today many chefs come out of the kitchen to receive applause; it cannot go on like this. Restaurants, no matter how important their proposal or research may be, are nothing without the customers," he concludes.
@Daniel Perez
Source: 7canibales.com
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Cover Dish: "Trippa a modo mio" (Tripe My Way) by Dani Carnero
