Emanuele Scarello
Emanuele Scarello
When he’s not in the kitchen of his two Michelin-starred restaurant, Emanuele Scarello is in the Fruilian countryside, seeking out wild herbs and rare ingredients to incorporate into his dishes. His experience as a sommelier and working front of house means he knows how important it is that every aspect of his restaurant works in perfect harmony.
Combining the ancient flavours of Friuli with modern, avant-garde cooking techniques is a tricky balancing act, but Emanuele Scarello has managed it perfectly – earning two Michelin stars at his family restaurant in the process. His parents were famous throughout the region for cooking contemporary, international cuisine, and would often take a young Emanuele with them when they visited local farmers and producers, to learn how food and ingredients were treated before they reached the kitchen.
After graduating from culinary college in Arta Terme, Udine, Emanuele worked at Boschetti in Tricesimo, a two Michelin-starred restaurant. Here, he learnt the basics of cooking to incredibly high standards, but just one year later he decided to leave and study as a sommelier for three years, to gain a better understanding of the vast amount of wine available in Fruili. It was after this course that Emanuele realised he needed to gain experience working in different roles at restaurants, so he had the knowledge needed to run his own successful business in the future. ‘I think it’s necessary to gain an understanding of every aspect of restaurant management,’ he tells us. ‘I can’t create a new dish for my guests unless I know what they want, which is why I worked in the dining room before making my way to the kitchen.’
Once his studies were complete, Emanuele moved to Vienna to learn more about ‘bourgeois cuisine’ – a traditional cooking style associated with the middle classes. After travelling to Paris and across Spain, he finally returned to the family restaurant, Agli Amici, in 1998, taking the reins with his sister Michela. Just one year later, the restaurant received its first Michelin star, and in 2009, Emanuele was made president of Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe (JRE) in Italy – an association which nurtures young culinary talent across the continent. Finally, in 2013, after years of hard work and innovation, Emanuele received his second Michelin star, which he thinks is down to his appreciation for the different roles everyone working at a restaurant has to play. ‘The kitchen and dining room have to be on the same wavelength,’ he explains. ‘They must work in complete symbiosis.’
Agli Amici may have been in Emanuele’s family since 1887, but the kitchen staff don’t rely on tried and tested recipes. Experimentation is key to the restaurant’s success, and Emanuele believes that the aim of a chef should be to continuously search for improvement and highlight a particular flavour’s essence. Dishes such as Risotto with egg yolk, liquorice powder and green asparagus and Madagascar – a biscuit-based dessert made with rum and chocolate – are classic examples of his dedication to exciting, contemporary cookery.
Emanuele loves to forage, looking for wild herbs and ingredients in the Friulian countryside. His modern cooking style may be what sets him apart from other chefs, but it’s his ability to combine this with fantastic, locally-sourced ingredients that has led to awards such as Best Italian Chef 2013 from Corriere della Sera. ‘Just a few steps from my house and restaurant there are gorgeous meadows and beautiful vegetable gardens, where I can pick the best produce every day – herbs, sprouts and all sorts of other amazing ingredients,’ he says. His favourite dish is gnocchi, which his grandmother taught him to cook, and his Gnocchi with herbs, garlic sauce and black truffle showcases his love of Friulian produce. But despite his contemporary cooking and travels all over Europe, it’s his mother Ivonne who Emanuele says taught him the most important lessons about cooking.
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