Fabrizio Fiorani, between oneiric and real

 “Tra l’onirico e il reale” [Between oneiric and real]. Publisher Chiriotti chose a nice title for Fabrizio Fiorani’s book. Thirty-one, he’s been the pastry-chef at restaurant Luca Fantin in the Bulgari Ginza Tower in Tokyo since 2015. Fantin-Fiorani, a double F that is delineating a beautiful adventure for Italian cuisine abroad.

We already know a lot about the chef from Treviso (also thanks to the book he published little over a year ago), but we knew little of this Roman young man. He arrived in Japan for the opening of Heinz Beck's Sensi and before that he worked in important Italian restaurants (The Cesar alla Posta Vecchia, Pellicano at Argentario, Pinchiorri in Florence and La Pergola in Rome). The young man was inspired in his profession by Philippe Conticini and Pierre Hermè, two giants of the sweet universe that have set an example for him.

The title of the book is a good prelude before swinging between the opposite poles among which Fiorani moves. «Pastry making», he writes in the introduction, «is the sum of strong flavours that must strike immediately, desserts with as many as three spoonfuls, and the right balance between innovation and memory». Then there are other opposites guiding his work: flair and rigour, art and technique, fun and erudite quotations, technique and irony. In the end, these elements, says publisher Livia Chiriotti in the introduction, define him through five features: «ambition, obsession and passion, imagination and aesthetic strength».

We had already noticed his ambition and imagination in November, last year, during a visit to Tokyo. Fiorani was finishing his batch of panettoni made in the Far East. His eyes were shining at least as much as the eyes of Takauku Otani, the sushiman and director at Otanino Sushi, one with Speedy Gonzales hands: we were all charmed by the small leavened pastries that the young man pulled out of the magical cylinder.

He sums up his reckless passion for the art of pastry making in a 7-chapter book with 60 recipes written in Italian and English. A rollercoaster of extremely precise recipes, detailed to the milligram, with memorable photos (Giancarlo Bononi and Luca Marcheselli designed the project). A journey that obviously begins with ingredients, desserts exploring milk, vanilla or passion fruit, his favourite ingredients, analysed in every texture, temperature or contrast.

Then there’s aesthetics «searching for beauty is one of the stimuli I find most fascinating», intuition which results in desserts with a strong visual impact such as “Call me mister pig” or “Hokusai”, creative method which he studies starting from a rigorous thought (try make the gold square praline yourselves, if you can).

And then we have memories from his roots (maritozzo with whipped cream) and from the French school (chocolate eclair), ideas that turn the current recipes upside down (apple pie al contrario, strawberries with cream, tiramisu glasses) and recipes that are a homage to the masters - Conticini, Beck and Hermè as well as Norihiko Terai and Dominique Crenn. Creative visions pressed into a must-have book.

Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso