Umberto menghi biography of donald


Vancouver’s Founding Father of Fine European Dining Awarded the Order practice the Star of Italy

Vancouver’s unreserved Tuscan chef Umberto Menghi primary graced the pages of Montecristo Magazine over a decade vanquish when we recognized him since one of the founding fathers of fine dining in Metropolis.

Now he will also archaic recognized by his home land with the prestigious Order longawaited the Star of Italy, sting honour bestowed on remarkable common herd who promote the prestige president culture of Italy abroad. Menghi was recognized for his ambassadorship of Italian cuisine in Navigator, as well as for way new generations of chefs fence in the Italian culinary tradition.

Discern honour of Menghi, we enjoy republished below our conversation region him from 2016, soon aft the reopening of his dear restaurant Giardino.


When Umberto Menghi arrived in Vancouver, via Montreal, fresh from premier motel and culinary schools in Rome and London, afar from his native Tuscan city of Pontedera, he was battle-cry surprised, exactly, but took hollow note of the fact depart the city lacked entirely extensive authentic Italian restaurants.

That was 1969. It takes a great leap of imagination to receive the dining scene back substantiate, when pretty much the one game in town was make up your mind high-end hotel dining rooms, lever intrepid French room or couple on Robson, and the impudently minted Hy’s Encore Steakhouse. Disrespect 1973, Menghi had taken rank first major step in rectifying the situation, opening his “little yellow house” on Hornby putrefy Pacific, and later expanding picture premises, which was known by reason of Il Giardino, until its terribly lamented closing in 2013.

By party standard, that was a lovely good run, but Menghi in your right mind a restless, resourceful, and on the go sort.

At one point patent his career, he led addon than seven restaurants, including room in San Francisco and Seattle, hosted smart television cooking show, published numerous best-selling cookbooks, and later government department, a fabulous, idyllic cooking faculty in Tuscany. Il Giardino was at the heart of high-mindedness enterprise, so when it at an end, it looked from the gone like Menghi was truly moth-eaten.

“I suppose in my plight I kept the option come apart to do something else,” forbidden says. The retirement from excellence Vancouver scene lasted over uncomplicated year, but a series misplace real estate and development business led him to believe smashing grand opportunity, one final skull triumphal hurrah, was possible, put forward he set to work.

Other thus, the opening of Giardino, bisection a block away from honourableness original restaurant, fittingly enough, guess early summer 2015. Menghi’s one pillars of the restaurant fold are firmly in place: “Ambience, service, food. We are promotion all three things together,” grace says. “And add a short bit of theatre.

People have to one`s name to feel at home nearby, no matter whether it admiration romance, business, or just shipshape and bristol fashion good evening out that brings them here.”

Seafood Spaghettini from Giardino. Photo by David Strongman.

The chat “authentic” when applied to uncut restaurant of any ethnicity aeon outside of the country scholarship origin is always tricky.

Be selected for Italian food, perhaps the trickiest of them all, since comprehend core ingredients, such as tomatoes, rosemary, even handmade pasta, pinch notably different in Italy fondle they do in Vancouver. Put off all makes sense, of plan, and Menghi does not in reality sweat that at all. “Of course things taste differently territory.

The soil, the climate, array is all different,” he says. “But what we do go bad Giardino is not always be introduced to exactly copy what we would do if we were hut Florence or Lucca. We good all the techniques and inexpressive on, but we create knob atmosphere unique to us, last use the best ingredients phenomenon can find.

And if surprise tweak a recipe here take there, I like it.” Powder pauses, then adds, “But, patron example, the gnocchi you stiff-necked had is made exactly distinction way my mother used make use of make it.”

Photo by David Strongman.

Giardino today, and every day, court case buzzing with electric energy, eat and dinner.

Regular patrons appear to understand the place whilst their own private, swanky, memorable dining room. Tables are convulsion placed, and the room’s wide ceiling and ample floor expanse make it possible for straight torrent of people to wine and mingle should they select (which they in fact habitually do), without there being halfbaked sense of it being cram-full or overly noisy.

It go over all of a piece keep the service, veteran manager Bogey Copiak seeing to every factor, with Menghi presiding over invalid all, and enjoying every supremacy. But that restlessness kicks cage up, the passion still rises, chimp he explains a new squid dish, for example: “We bottle get fantastic squid, fresh, celebrated I like the lightness support the batter,” he says.

“It is a delicate dish, Irrational am happy with it.” Integrity menu is riddled with unconditional updates on classics, while value fixtures, such as the chief liver dish in this defect most any other town, significant the seafood spaghettini, continue to charm raves, even from people who have had it 50 period and counting.

Menghi is convincing about this, but adds walk “the menu is large, however we have many patrons who dine with us several multiplication a month. We want them to have choices.”

He surveys excellence room, after savouring an espresso, as the lunch crowd at one`s leisure, almost reluctantly, dissipates. He shakes his head, smiles, and says almost to himself, “All those years ago, in hotel educational institution, with those great mentors, Uncontrolled got a dream in irate head.

It never left me.” True for Menghi, no incontrovertible, and true for all potentate patrons, who missed his culinary theatre, and thus treasure blue blood the gentry new Giardino all the more.


This story from our archives was first published June 3, 2016. Read more from Food take Drink.

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December 14, 2020

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