It's new time for the chef-patron of Birichin: Nicola Batavia is changing his life.
The News
Everyone's life is made up of different phases and now, for Nicola Batavia, the time has come to stop and conclude the chapter dedicated L'Birichin - his Turin restaurant - to open a new one wherethe protagonist will bethe family. After a good 32 years, in fact, the famous place at 16 Via Monti closes and, so, too, does The Egg, the bistro that owes its name to the main ingredient of the iconic “Egg, Fondue, Potato, Hazelnut and Cocoa,” the chef's signature dish. “It's a life choice. A change I felt I had to make. I have lived so many lives in so many places in the world. Now I have decided that my place in the coming years will be as close as possible to my son. I sold the place to two guys, they will make gourmet pizzas here. My son Vittorio is 10 years old. I became a father late, I am 58 years old and I don't want to waste time. When I tell friends about it they tell me 'do well, for the career I didn't see mine grow up,'" the chef confides to Corriere della Sera.
A profound desire for change and a clear choice in life, which after a career spent exploring the world and telling its story through dishes, at least for the time being, sees him abandon the restaurant business to devote more time to his affections. A turning point that transcends the professional area and will see Batavia change his routine altogether. "Do I dread this choice? Sure, I think about it sometimes, but that's exactly why I sold the place, so I could cut the bridge, make a final decision. If selling and moving is one grief, I experience two. Because I also sold my house in Moncalieri: in two weeks I move first the restaurant stuff and then the apartment. I am almost 59 years old, the Birichin has always been my creature until, 11 years ago, precisely, I was lucky enough to become Vittorio's father. My partner lives and works in Milan and I, all this time, have been traveling.
I spent 11 years going up and down, every week, living half the time in Milan, half the time in Turin but, now, I don't want to miss a moment of Vittorio's life anymore and, finally, I decided to move. He is my life. I am going back to Milan, these days we will have many parties to say goodbye to friends and loyal customers. Then I will be here as a tourist, Turin is a wonderful city if you don't have to work there. And in a few years we'll see,” he reiterates, again to the Corriere's microphones. With the closing of Birichin, a chapter in Batavia's life comes to an end, but also an important part of the Turin and Italian gastronomic scene.
Around the tables of the Batavia restaurant sat some of the most important people in the world: “...from Silvio Berlusconi to Sergio Marchionne have been my guests. Jovanotti is crazy about my egg and there has been Lucio Dalla, Giorgio Panariello, Renato Zero, the Elkanns, Lavazza and many Nike stars, even the late Kobe Bean Bryant. Now I'm going to try to get some rest and continue to run my consultancies around the world, from France to Dubai, and most importantly, I'm going to try to spend as much time as I can with my son by picking him up from school and taking him to play soccer. I'm taking a break, I still have so much going on in the world. And so many commitments, also the Milan-Cortina Olympics."
