“Cocinero cocinero”, one of the greatest successes of the cantaor and flamenco dancer Antonio Molina, tells the daily difficulties of cooks. But this is no accident. In fact, traditional Spanish music is experienced with a cultural identity and a passion that can only be found in a kitchen, with songs and recipes that are handed down from generation to generation. Arts, because we are talking about arts, where the use of the instruments and at the same time being in time with the other dancers, or the rest of the band, are fundamental elements for a good performance.
And it was therefore perhaps inevitable that, in the six years spent in Spanish kitchens, Luca Bellanca insinuated the spirit and musicality of flamenco within himself. In fact, for him cooking is a game of synchronies, movements, intonations, both with colleagues and with flavours. For this reason, to properly celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Meta restaurant in Lugano, the chef proposed one of his signature dishes in an exclusive evening (so much so that he won an award at the famous Fallas in Valencia, ed): paella.
«It is one of the dishes that best represent me – says Bellanca -. A simplicity that actually hides a lot of technique, where tradition requires inventiveness and heart. But above all, as many different ingredients are found in paella, from fish to meat to vegetables, I bring my Sicilian origins and my early years in Varese to the kitchen, as well as obviously my years in Spain and this wonderful adventure in Ticino».
Just Lugano has reserved for the chef, who this year has embarked on the halfway point of 40 years, the greatest personal satisfactions: «Regarding the path we have undertaken with the Meta and I get excited. In 2020 I received the chef of the year award from the Gault & Millau, the year after the Michelin star and last year the entry into the Grand Tables Suisse. If they had told me at the beginning of my career I would never have believed it: these are awards that are every chef's dream. But over the years, after all the sacrifices, if there's one thing you learn, it's that these results are not exclusively individual but collective. It's not rhetoric: those who share entire days in the kitchen and in the dining room, tackling difficulties together, know what I'm talking about».
16 Gault&Millau points and the Michelin Star are also the sublimation of the ten-year partnership between chef Bellanca and Mario Mantegazza: «Seeing him so excited on the day of the star announcement moved me. Today there are those who only see the prizes, but let's not forget that the first few years were far from easy: proposing a new idea of catering in a place far from the city center wasn't obvious. Yet he has always believed in it and trusted me, allowing me to implement my cooking philosophy without compromise. It was the long-term work that paid off, but to do so you needed the strength to be patient and Mario, with enormous elegance and without putting pressure on us, has always had it, making us feel not just employees but members of a large family».
The very concept of family has become a philosophy within the Meta: «Those who come to visit us and eat with us must feel at home. For this reason we have streamlined the furnishing of the place, making it essential while maintaining a certain elegance, with a high quality cuisine proposal, without however disdaining the gluttony of the dishes. However, all of this would be useless if we hadn't managed to convey to the customers the spirit of familiarity that exists between each member of the restaurant: everyone doesn't work for himself but lends a hand to each other. In fact, professionalism does not mean arrogance, but having knowledge and responsibility for what one's duties are and the right things to do for the common good. The fact that most of the colleagues have been working here for so many years is the best demonstration of how this way of working works well and allows us to give our best every night».
Giving your best means not only keeping the bar high, but trying to raise it further: «Without this kind of ambition it would be better to change jobs! Haute gastronomy is magical precisely because of this need to constantly seek out new stimuli and new frontiers to explore. The renewal of the card goes precisely in this sense: whoever wants can always find what, after 10 years, we can now call our "classics". But, in the meantime, everyone will be able to see, indeed taste, our interpretation of the new trends in the kitchen, the result of our experiences and our individual and collective growth. We can't wait to let you try them, we are waiting for you!»
