Gualtiero Marchesi

Gualtiero Marchesi (pronounced [ɡwalˈtjɛːro marˈkeːzi; -eːsi]; 19 March 1930 – 26 December 2017) was an Italian chef, considered the founder of Italian nouvelle cuisine.

Biography

Marchesi was born in Milan, Italy. His parents ran the hotel and restaurant "L'Albergo del Mercato" in Via Bezzecca. It was here that he had his first experiences in the kitchen.

Two of his relatives, Luigi Ghisoni—who had been a chef at the Ritz, Madeira, before he joined Marchesi's father running the business—and Domenico Bergamaschi, chef at Albergo del Mercato, were major influences on Marchesi. He identified their ability to prepare traditional recipes perfectly, but he also acknowledged their talent of enhancing the flavour of simple ingredients.

At 17, he left school to work at the Hotel Kulm in St. Moritz. He then studied at a hotel school in Lucerne before returning to work at Albergo del Mercato. There, he prepared traditional recipes for lunch, but in the evening he was given a free hand to experiment. He built a following for his avant-garde cuisine.

Marchesi was an accomplished musician and follower of music. Through this, he met his wife, a piano soloist and daughter of a famous soprano.

Marchesi then worked at the "Ledoyen" in Paris, "Le Chapeau Rouge" in Dijon, and "Troisgros" in Roanne. On his return to Milan, he opened a small hotel with his parents, which he ran until 1977.

He then opened his first restaurant on Via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan, also in 1977. Within a year, he earned his first Michelin star, with another following the next year. It took another seven years, but he eventually won the distinction of a third Michelin star—the first Italian chef, and possibly even the first non-French chef, to do so, although citations on the latter are difficult to confirm.