All food is good for this open-minded chef
Sebastiano Giangregorio Executive Chef Antonio.
But Sebastiano Giangregorio, the head chef at Antonio, an Italian restaurant in Cheongdam-dong, southern Seoul, is more open-minded.
“All food is good,” the Italian chef said last week while sipping an afternoon espresso.
“A taste can never be imitated. Every dish is unique in that it brings different emotions and experiences to different people,” he said, noting that there is no such thing as unsavory food.
He is confident about what he says, perhaps because he was brought up with a mother who was a chef for 45 years and a grandfather who was one for 75 years.
For Giangregorio, there may not be any bad meals, but he does have favorite restaurants.
One is Divino Ristobar in the Hongdae area of northwest Seoul. The restaurant was opened in April by chefs Paolo De Maria and Salvatore Agresti.
“It has a small kitchen, but great, authentic Italian-style cuisine,” he said.As a former resident of Italy and a chef in Seoul since 2007, Giangregorio thinks too many Italian restaurants serve fancy side dishes that sometimes are not even Italian.
Though Divino offers a menu of sophisticated dishes like penne all’arrabbiata (penne pasta with garlic tomato sauce seasoned with rosemary) and risotto alla certosina (shrimp risotto seasoned with oregano and parmesan), Giangregorio recommends plain, cheese pizza.
“The pizzas there are served with an Italian philosophy,” he said. “They are cooked with simple sauces to preserve all of the nutritious elements.”
Grilled salmon with green pepper sauce and assorted vegetables. Provided by Divino Ristobar
Sebastiano Giangregorio started his career as chef in 1986, working mainly in Europe. He arrived in Korea in 2007 and is a member of Les Toques Blanches Korea, a professional chefs’ association founded here in 1982. He also teaches at Il Cuoco, an Italian culinary institute in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul. To visit Divino Ristobar, go to Hongik University subway station, line No. 2, exit 5. For reservations, call (02) 322-0227 or visit www.divinoristobar.com.
By Lee Eun-joo [angie@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)