Marco Stabile
Marco Stabile
One of Tuscany’s most important chefs, Marco Stabile honed his craft in some of the most respected kitchens in Italy. He now runs his own Michelin-starred restaurant, reimagining classic regional dishes and bringing them into the 21st century. Even the locals have fallen in love with his cooking, despite being fiercely protective of their traditional recipes.
The majority of Italian chefs have their parents to thank for their love of cooking, who help create the memories they form as children. Marco Stabile is no different. He remembers helping his mother make pasta and traditional Tuscan recipes for big family occasions, realising it was his true calling and attended culinary college as soon as he was old enough. Afterwards, he managed to get a job working with Guido Sabatini at Florence’s Club Bell’Arturo, where he learnt how important it was to be organised. Marco was relieved to discover he not only loved working with food, but that he also relished working in the fast paced environment of a professional kitchen.
Once he had gained enough experience to move on, Marco worked all over Tuscany in restaurants such as the Salotto del Chianti and Osteria di Passignano in Val di Pesa. However, it was his time at the two Michelin-starred Alforno, working with Gaetano Trovato, that had the most profound effect on Marco’s cooking. Under Gaetano’s guidance, he began to develop his own, unique style, learning how to construct dishes, showcase a region’s flavours and – most importantly – how to be calm and patient in the kitchen.
In 2005, Marco left to set up his own restaurant, Ora d’Aria, in the heart of Florence, with the vision of taking Tuscany’s dishes and turning them into something modern, innovative and thought provoking. The next few years were tough – Marco didn’t pay himself a salary for the first three, working non-stop every day to turn his dreams into reality. His most challenging task was to win the support of the locals, who were incredibly proud of their Tuscan culinary traditions and averse to anyone tweaking or changing their favourite dishes. But pure curiosity meant they started to eat at his restaurant and they were instantly converted. Six years later in 2011, Marco won his first Michelin star. The awards kept coming, and he is now the current president of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe (JRE), an association which helps young chefs with their careers across the continent.
Many of Marco’s dishes are incredibly innovative, combining new flavours, making the most of ground-breaking cooking techniques and presenting traditional food in exciting new ways, but he doesn’t experiment just for the sake of it; every dish he creates is his attempt to make the most of Tuscany’s natural produce. His Super tartare uses local beef fillet marinated in beer with a spoonful of black truffle caviar placed on top to add depth and earthiness, while his Partridge with bay leaf, roasted Tuscan bread and hibiscus sauce takes traditional regional ingredients and presents them in a bright, contemporary way. Despite his Michelin star, Marco still keeps the prices at Ora d’Aria as low as possible, so as many people as possible can taste his beautiful cuisine.
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