The 14th edition of the Guida ai ristoranti di Identità Golose is now online. No longer in print (as was the case from 2007 to 2015) but online, for free and available to all.
The reviews are 829 to begin with, and mostly Italian: compared to the previous edition, in this complex year we've focused almost entirely on Italian restaurants (but having an online publication helps: the restaurants from Europe and the rest of the world will be back as we will gradually be able to travel safely).
The new establishments are 118, while the Italian reviews are 814, 20 more than in the previous edition (794): which means that even in a dramatic year, there were more restaurants that opened compared to those that closed, which shows the vitality of fine dining, despite everything else.
Some more significant data: the Italian pizzerias are 97, almost 1/8 of the total, a segment that shows the ferment of this offer, literally and metaphorically. On top of the best places for pizza, we've tried to include more and more “non-restaurant” formats: this year we've also included cocktail bars with a small kitchen, butchers' with a small kitchen, micro-bakeries…
The restaurants that have chefs under 40 at their helm are 410, so basically half of the total: we've always tried to focus on a “young cuisine” (even with our awards, all given to professionals under 40, see below).
In this year's reviews there are two new icons, a reflex of these difficult times we're living: 314 restaurants out of 830 have a delivery/take away service (and it's likely that many will cease when the emergency will be over). Then there are 474 establishments with a dehors, very important for our readers during the pandemic.
This year we've added “Coraggiose”, brave, to our Storie di Gola: they're no longer a selection of recommendations on where to eat in a specific city or part of the world, but enlightening and supportive examples that have stood out in the last difficult 12 months. In detail:
- 16K packs of food for families: the commitment of the Cereas in Bergamo by Annalisa Cavaleri;
- The Refettori don't stop: in 2020, they've served 450K meals by Food for Soul;
- Crisis as an opportunity for an entire country by Ana Roš;
- Cucine Solidali, Torino works hard to help the poor by Andrea Chiuni;
- ZenAsporto, a virtuous delivery in Genoa by Marco Visciola.
With Paolo Marchi, Solaika Marrocco (restaurant Primo in Lecce), best female chef
Paolo Marchi and Elisa Pozzi from San Pellegrino give the 2021 best chef award to Michelangelo Mammoliti of La Madernassa in Guarene (Cuneo)
The hosts of the event, Federico Quaranta and Cinzia Benzi
Claudio Ceroni and Paolo Marchi
Here are all the names of the young stars in 2021:
Best female chef
Solaika Marrocco, Primo, Lecce
(see the reason)
Best chef
Michelangelo Mammoliti, La Madernassa, Guarene (Cuneo)
(see the reason)
Best sous-chef
Michele Lazzarini, St. Hubertus – San Cassiano (Bolzano)
(see the reason)
Best pastry chef
Nicola Di Lena
Seta del Mandarin Oriental - Milan
(see the reason)
Surprise of the year
Antonio Biafora
Hyle – San Giovanni in Fiore (Cosenza)
(see the reason)
Best female sommelier
Marta Passaseo
L’Imbuto, Lucca
(see the reason)
Best sommelier
Jacopo Tosi
Langosteria, Milan
(see the reason)
Best maître
Fabrizio Picano
Per Me - Giulio Terrinoni - Rome
(see the reason)
Service and hospitality
Mauro Buffo con Antonio, Simonetta and Filippo Gioco
12 Apostoli - Verona
(see the reason)
Identità di Birra
Francesco Pompetti
Impastatori Pompetti - Roseto degli Abruzzi (Teramo)
(see the reason)
Impresa Pizza
Ilaria Puddu and Stefano Saturnino with Nanni Arbellini
Crocca, Giolina, Marghe, Pizzium – Milan and beyond
(see the reason)
Best delivery
Erba Brusca - Milan
Retrobottega - Rome
Mezza Pagnotta - Ruvo di Puglia (Bari)
(see the reason)
Experiments in the Kitchen
Luca Abbadir
Madonnina del Pescatore – Senigallia (Ancona)
(see the reason)
Young family
Maurizio, Sandro, Amedeo and Michele Serva
Trota – Rivodutri (Rieti)
(see the reason)
Best food writer
Leila Salimbeni
Passione Gourmet
(see the reason)
Eighty-five contributors have written this year's guide. Our thanks go to each one of them, and especially to Annalisa Cavaleri and Chiara Nicolini, who have verified all the details of the 830 reviews, which this year changed all the time, for obvious reasons: each one of our reviews includes up to 43 sets of info (on top of those in the main text), and it's easy to make mistakes. To report any error, write to gabrielezanatta@identitagolose.it and chiara.nicolini@magentabureau.it.
See also
One year on a roller coaster: the introduction to the 2021 Guida by Paolo Marchi
