Alessandro Borghese new business: “Padel and spade in my new bistro”
Alessandro Borghese, new business between padel and food with the opening of the ABKS Break Time bistro. How did this idea come to you?
“It was born from my partner who is passionate about padel (Umberto Maria Chiaramonte, founder and number one of the communication agency MNcomm, ndr) who dragged me and said ‘We have to do this thing’. I love him a lot and I said ‘Okay let’s do it together’. And then we involved other members and friends: Max Giusti, Diletta Leotta, Junior Cally, Gabriele Corsi. From there the Padel Palace was born… Padel and spade. So here is the whole sporting part of this wonderful discipline that has taken hold in Italy – a reality destined to grow more and more – combined with a bistro called ABKS – like one of my lucky programmes, Alessandro Borghese Kitchen Sound – Break Time because I remember that when I went to school it was break time”
The secrets of Borghese’s bistro…
“It’s a place where you can eat hamburgers, Mac and Chees, tiramisu, an artichoke and potato lasagna, veal brisket… I involved my friend Joe Bastianich who gave me a couple of his exceptional sandwiches. A place where there is a good beer on tap… A prize for the players who after sweating want to refresh themselves and eat something tasty and enjoyable. And also for the area of Milan (Precotto, in via Alfredo Soffredini 16, ed.) where is located, growing rapidly and close to the University.It is a different offer between sports and a fun gastronomic offer from lunchtime until half past ten in the evening, with the possibility of playing padel until 11pm, 30. The idea was born little by little, first we laid down the fields and now we have opened Break Time”
How is your relationship with padel playing?
“I’m very strong, among the strongest padel players there are. My partners never want to challenge me because they’re scared and so they told me ‘You take care of the burgers while we play‘. Then every now and then I enjoy myself, I make him look bad and I go back to my kitchens”, Borghese says smiling with his usual irony.
Not just stir fry. On Monday 25 March you’ll be back with the new season of Celebrity Chef on TV8’s prime time access. What season will it be?
“There are so many new things. First of all, there is a new judge. It’s no longer a surprise, it’s the great Marisa Laurito who I greet (he sends her a kiss, ndr), a woman who has lived five lives, of extreme culture and intelligence. A great gourmet who knows how to cook, she takes cooking courses wherever she goes and sits at the Celebrity Chef’s table to judge the VIPs. With me there is always my colleague Riccardo Monco, the Executive Chef of the Enoteca Pinchiorri of Florence with 3 Michelin Stars. And then big news this year…”
Or?
“I vote too. And of course, I pay for the electricity, the gas, the restaurant, the staff and everything else… I said ‘This year I want to vote too’
Alessandro Borghese, Riccardo Monco and Marisa Laurito (photo Jule Hering)
Bistro, TV… should we expect any more surprises from Alessandro Borghese in 2024?
“There are some new things coming. Apart from the fact that we will soon start recording the new season of Alessandro Borghese 4 Ristoranti. And then there are some new things coming probably from September-October. But I can’t reveal them to you right away…”
Maybe some new openings…
“Maybe even some new openings. But I can’t reveal them to you right away…”
Alessandro Borghese, Diletta Leotta, Max Giusti,
Gabriele Corsi, Junior Cally and the Padel Palace team
What’s cooking in your restaurant in Venice?
“From May yes because soon in the garden of the Venetian restaurant, among the most beautiful in the city overlooking the Grand Canal, we will begin our evenings with Ampi – the Association of Italian Master Pastry Chefs. And then in June we will start with cultural evenings: it can be the presentation of a book, a director or a character from the world of entertainment who comes to tell his story…”
We are approaching Easter. What will Borghese’s lunch menu be?
“In my restaurants a lamb-based dish is never missing: I’m preparing a new one together with my executive chef from Venice, Sebastiano Bodi. We’re making a lamb with yogurt and a herb powder: very tasty and reminiscent of spring. we will put it on the menu for the Easter period. Instead in the AB restaurant – Il Lusso della simplicity in Milan we are working on a particular vignarola, with broad beans, peas, asparagus… all the first fruits that the new season gives us There too, therefore, a particular menu, in addition to our home-made doves”
What dove do you recommend for Easter 2024?
“Classic. I’m for the classic. Excessive fillings are now fashionable. I like the Colomba like those of the past, but with lots of almonds and icing on top because I love that crunchy sugary part”