Cracco and the truth behind the lost star

Both lost their second star, but there’s quite a difference in Milan between Claudio Sadler and Carlo Cracco. Unfortunately for the former, after over 20 years of starred joy, according to Michelin he’s at the end of a journey. As for Cracco, he’s closing to start from scratch in a brand-new place. The future can still belong to him, it all depends on how he’ll start in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele: «Of course I’m sorry. However, I still don’t know when I’ll open in the Ottagono. The only thing I’m sure of, is that my last service in Via Victor Hugo will be on the evening of the 23rd December, a Saturday. And on Monday the 8th January doors will remain closed».

A very significant date: «Cracco-Peck, this was once the name, opened exactly 17 years ago, on the 8th January 2001. And now? I have no idea. The page on the guide reads autumn of 2017 but the forecast was unmet, renovations are ongoing. I hope to open in January, but we might delay to February».

Hence Cracco is in a limbo: «I’m happy with this choice, because this way in the next few months I won’t need to justify two stars without having a restaurant. What I’m doing is hardly easy. It’s my first entirely personal project. Starting from scratch. There’s no point in rushing things, in opening for the sake of it. When you decide to take on a completely different route, it takes more than two minutes. Each step must be weighed. We’re building something important and we’ll open at the right time. Of one thing I’m sure: we’ll do our best to return to where we were until yesterday right away».

Milan, however, has a happy side too. Matias Perdomo of Contraste, Roberto Conti of Trussardi alla Scala and Eugenio Boer of Essenza are rightly happy with their first star. The same goes with Andrea Aprea of Vun at Park Hyatt and his second star. It’s a return for Conti and Perdomo, a brand-new star for Boer. In the end, the overall outcome is positive: 23 stars, two more. And the run starts once again. For Cracco in particular, it’s a matter of going back to two right from the 2019 edition. And for Antonio Guida and Seta it means reaching three stars, even in 2020.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso