"To become a Gourmet Chef you need will, perseverance, a lot of practice throughout a long training, and the courage of making experiments picking up the best of different culinary experiences and traditions. But the secret ingredient, the spice which gives an unequivocal flavor to everything a great chef does is his/her strong passion!".
These the words of Luca Cisca, who, together with his wife Alice and his 3 years old son Alex, founded the pioneering project Sapori di Sicilia, which proposes the ancient culinary tradition of Sicily, a beautiful island in the south of Italy, with the knowledge and refinement of international Gourmet cuisine.
Both Alice and Luca have gastronomy in the blood. Alice's parents were pasta producers and Luca's cold cuts and cheese makers. This legacy, together with a strong passion and a great perseverance, allowed them to fulfill their dream.
They met in Sicily in 1996 while doing an internship in a famous hotel. They fell in love, and their love was enforced and always been kept alive by the same will of learning as much as they could in order to become great chefs and running their own restaurant together, following the steps of their fathers and keeping the extraordinary sicilian tradition alive everywhere in the world.
Since that moment on they've been working together for a while and separating for some other time (Alice went studying mexican gastronomy while Luca was studying oriental gastronomy), imbibing themselves with different experiences and learning from various qualified teachers.
Behind a great chef there are always great masters. Beside more others (Giuseppe Cannizzaro, for example, inventor of many recipes now spread in the most fashionable sicilian restaurants), Alice and Luca had the fortune to work with two upper class ones: Pino Cuttaia, probably the best between the ones born in Sicily, who taught them to transmute the traditional recipes in gourmet international dishes; and Tino Russo, with whom Luca learned how to run and properly administrate a restaurant, together with the skills of a great sommelier. After that, their apprenticeship was completed at 360°, and they started running in participation a "2 star Michelin" restaurant in Tormina (La Giara) in 2007, where they have been working for 3 years yet alongside the youngest between the paramount sicilian chefs, Carmelo Ucchino, and in 2010 they got married.
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Following Alice's keenness for Mexico, they came in Puerto Vallarta for their honey moon, and decided to stay: "this is where I want to make my dreams come true and to grow my children", says Alice with a luminous glimpse in her eyes, "we come from an island where fish is the most important aliment in the diet, as well as here in Vallarta, and we know how to prepare it. I am sure we can express ourself at the best here. Besides, we can share the culture of our beloved island here, because the culinary appreciation is already widespread, and my son can grow up strong and equilibrate, 'cos there is peace here and beauty all around".
"We want to keep our tradition alive", adds Luca with a warm and reliable smile, "but we are also aware that when the people go in a restaurant they are looking for an extraordinary experience. In our long traineeship we learned that the secret of a great dish is in the proportions, in the creativity of mixing up the ingredients, in the chemical knowledge; and that the pleasure of enjoying an exceptional dish is enhanced by the amenity of the environment and by the quality of the service. Well, this is exactly what we wish to offer in our restaurant, Sapori di Sicilia, the project we have started this season* here in Vallarta: a dinner which you will never forget!".
In order to do so, they chose to involve in the project another great chef and good friend of theirs, Carmelo Calì, a young, talented, and yet experienced sicilian rising star, which adjoins: "cooking is a personal feeling, you certainly need to love what you are doing. But the secret is to be craftsman and scientist at the same time. What we are doing at Sapori di Sicilia is to take advantage of the artisan's knowledge, who uses fresh ingredients only, does not waste a single part of them and prepares everything home-made, then express our craetivity with the skills of the Gourmet's science".
Actually, it seems that nothing is missing here for an outstanding culinary experience...
[readon1 url="index.php?option=com_sobipro&pid=1&sid=361:Sapori-Di-Sicilia-Italian-Restaurant&Itemid=212"]Sources: Sapori Di Sicilia Italian Restaurant-Article By:Silvia Giachello[/readon1]
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