YERU EBUEN -
Destiny is a mysterious thing and such has been the case for Michelin-star chef Angelo Sabatelli currently in the country for a few days to take over contemporary and stylish Italian restaurant Capri Court located on the seafront of Al Bandar Hotel.
“It was all an accident. I followed my friends to cookery school and while I fell in love with it and ended up becoming a chef, they didn’t. My friends all have different jobs now,” he shared while busy prepping a risotto that was one of the main dishes he was demonstrating for the attending media and influencers on a private event held January 23.
A candid, welcoming guy, Chef Sabatelli is particular about his ingredients and methodology but above all, the taste of the food.
“They should all look perfect. They should be done a certain way with a certain standard but they should always taste amazing,” he explained while replating an imported tomato dish which to an untrained eye already looked okay.
While one might expect for a Michelin-star chef to prepare all complex dishes, Chef Sabatelli shared that his ideals are different.
“I want them simple. Dishes are usually complex in the beginning but once you unlock their personalities, they end up easy to prepare,” he shared.
About his career, he said, “I never trained under big-name chefs, apart from the three years school, nothing, I most probably could be called a self-taught cook. At a point I decided that I didn’t want to do this job anymore, it was very boring, repetitive, without any expected evolution, all the chefs and teachers were doing the same thing and I didn’t like that!”
It turned around when “one day I bought a magazine, there were pictures of (for that period) an avant-garde restaurant, it was Gualtiero Marchesi’s, beautiful pictures of simple fantastic plates, at that point I realise that there was something else (that no one was doing in my region as well in most of Italy at that time) that could be done and said, this is what I want to do! Worked hard by myself and that’s what I did to achieve what I do today!”
Chef Sabatelli is first to admit that earning a Michelin star is synonymous with constant pressure.
“In a way it is. What with all the standards but it comes with the territory,” he said.
Known as the most avant-garde chef in Puglia, Chef Sabatelli has toured the world via Monopoli, Rome, Jakarta, Hong-Kong, Shanghai and Mauritius before finally choosing the splendid Palazzo Romanazzi in Putignano where he celebrates his first-class Michelin dining experience in residence.
His cuisine is inspired by, and constantly draws upon culinary traditions of the past combined with an added dash of contemporary flavour.
“I do my take on traditional recipes but elevating them in a way,” he said.
For three days, from January 24 – 26, 2019, Chef Angelo Sabatelli’s sumptuous à la carte menu will be available for guests to enjoy during this limited time in the country.
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