Graziano Prest and Fabio Pompanin called by Coni for catering. “In Tokyo we will live in a” bubble “, it will be days of hard work”
BELLUNO. Fabio Pompanin (from the “Al Camin” restaurant) and Graziano Prest (from Tivoli) will be the chefs responsible for the kitchen of “Casa Italia” in Tokyo, on the occasion of the Olympics that will open on 23 July. Pompanin and Prest will leave Rome on Monday, to return to Cortina a month later, on 12 August.
It is not the first time that the two great chefs from Ampezzo participate in an edition of the Games: in 2018 they were in South Korea, in Pyeongchang, but on that occasion they participated on behalf of the Cortina 2021 Foundation to promote the World Ski Championships in the Conca.
«In 2018 we participated in the Games in Korea thanks to the Foundation. There we had theopportunity to let us know. We had worked very hard. It started at eight in the morning and ended at one in the morning “, say the two,” so it was a hard and demanding work experience. However, we have been rewarded: now we have become the official Coni chefs for “Casa Italia” and we have been called to Tokyo ».
“Casa Italia” is located in The Kihinkan – Takanawa Manor House, a structure located in the Minato district about 10 kilometers from the Olympic village and the main press center. It is a project born to spread the Italian culture in the places of the Games, aassociated with the excellence of Made in Italy.
“We will cook for the institutional part, managers, politicians, those involved in the promotion of the Italy brand, but not for the athletes who will live in the Olympic village. And we are very happy to bring some Cortina to the Olympics ».
«The dishes we will propose will certainly be in favor of our beautiful country. We will bring some Ampezzo tradition to Japan, revisited in a summer key. Since this is the season with the highest temperatures in Tokyo, our cuisine will have to be interpreted in a different way: it will be softer and lighter, Mediterranean type. In other words, it will not be the typical Ampezzo cuisine, but more international. We will be there to represent Italy, first of all, but we will keep the name of Cortina high through food ».
Both Pompanin and Prest will bring along a trusted cook, “our right hand man”, while in Tokyo they will make use of Japanese collaborators. The ingredients will be sourced on site.
“We can’t bring us anything from here of food, given the health emergency situation, so we will find everything at the Tokyo market which is still one of the largest in the world”.
It will be a work-only experience, Pompanin predicts. “We will be in a super bubble from which we can never get out. If they ever allow us to shoot, we will only have a couple of days at the end, before returning to Italy. We don’t even know what awaits us, apart from that we will have to work hard; but it will be a wonderful experience, like in Korea, because you have the opportunity to meet a lot of people and have different relationships in a place so far from our country ».