A boyhood meal of tagliatelle Bolognese so good that chef and trucker’s son still recalls every detail
- Chef de cuisine at Sabatini Ristorante Italiano in Hong Kong, Claudio Favero has worked in several Michelin-starred restaurants and at Macau’s Grand Lisboa
- But he still recalls the taste of a tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce he had in Bologna as a child when he rode in his father’s truck and they ate at trattorias
How did you become interested in food? “From when I was six to 12 years old, during the summer holidays, I joined my father, who was a truck driver, as he travelled around Italy two or three times a week. Every lunchtime we stopped in a traditional trattoria and I tried different regional Italian food. It was amazing; I ate a lot of pasta.
“One time in Bologna, in northern Italy, I ate the best tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce in a small restaurant with my father. I remember the pasta was rich in egg flavour, the meat had just a bit of tomato, a touch of rosemary and aged Parmesan cheese.”
You have worked in many Michelin-starred restaurants. What did you learn from these places? “I was at Don Alfonso 1890 twice, the first time, from 2003 to 2005, at the Sant’Agata sui Due Golfi restaurant (in Naples). It wasn’t so much the cooking techniques that I learned, but more about how they use fruits and vegetables in season, and the quality of the ingredients. Chef Alfonso Iaccarino grows his own vegetables and fruits near the restaurant.
“After that I worked in a Spanish restaurant called El Racó de Can Fabes [now closed] in Barcelona from 2005 to 2009. There, I learned how to work in a big team. The fish there was amazing, all the seafood we got three times a week. I really understood how to cook seafood there. Then I returned to Rome, opening a restaurant Don Alfonso 1890 in a hotel. I was the executive chef, so I managed many staff.”
What was it like working for chef Iaccarino? “In 2014, I went to Macau for four years to work at the Don Alfonso 1890 at the Grand Lisboa [in 2017, the restaurant rebranded as the more casual Casa Don Alfonso]. He’s very passionate about food, always thinking of healthy dishes, the quality of the ingredients, and his family.
“He taught me the importance of seasonal ingredients. He is my mentor. I worked with him and his family for seven or eight years. The original restaurant is on the Sorrento Peninsula. It’s an iconic restaurant and different from other restaurants in that they do things differently, not classic southern Italian cuisine, but with some modern touches.”
