Interviews
Wednesday, 01 July 2009 10:07
Written by Sarah Wainman

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A conversation with the new chef at Giovanni’s at the Sheraton Hongqiao

When did you first become interested in cooking?
When I first tasted my mother's food.
 
Tell us about your first restaurant job?
I started out as everyone else - washing pots and pans, then graduated to peeling tomatoes, then cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom after service...I definitely worked my way up.
 
Who has been your biggest culinary influence?
My mother. And my biggest critique was my dad when he tried my cooking…
 
Which would you prefer: gourmet caviar with champagne, or your mum’s home-cooked spaghetti with cheap wine?
I would prefer spaghetti, cooked al dente, sprinkled with fresh beluga caviar and accompanied by a bottle of 1986 Antinori Grande.

Click here to read on... A conversation with the new chef at Giovanni’s at the Sheraton Hongqiao

When did you first become interested in cooking?
When I first tasted my mother's food.
 
Tell us about your first restaurant job?
I started out as everyone else - washing pots and pans, then graduated to peeling tomatoes, then cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom after service...I definitely worked my way up.
 
Who has been your biggest culinary influence?
My mother. And my biggest critique was my dad when he tried my cooking…
 
Which would you prefer: gourmet caviar with champagne, or your mum’s home-cooked spaghetti with cheap wine?
I would prefer spaghetti, cooked al dente, sprinkled with fresh beluga caviar and accompanied by a bottle of 1986 Antinori Grande.
 
What music style best describes your style of cooking and why?
Adriano Chelendano love songs, as food is like making love - inspiring, fulfilling and makes you sleepy.

You’ve been in China for 4 months now. How’ve you found the transition? Are there any major differences in the way a kitchen is run?
It was easy to adjust as we Italians are (almost) like Chinese: we are fun-loving people, we love to eat, we adore our families, we argue with policemen - and anyone else who will argue with us for that matter. We love our noodles, we eat everything off the pig like the Chinese, we talk a lot with our hands, we like to travel etc. 
 
Who makes better noodles, the Italians or the Chinese?
The only difference I can see is that the Chinese use woks and we use pans, but we also cook with water.
 
Have you found a favorite Chinese food yet?
I love Chinese noodles.
 
You change your menus incredibly regularly (sometimes weekly). Why?
Because I want to surprise and please my returning customers with the seasonal food available here and what I can do with it.
 
What makes a great recipe? Improvisation or detailed research?
The greatest recipe is fresh food, cooked simply.
 
Who’s the biggest celebrity you’ve ever cooked for?
That was a Japanese sumo wrestler - he weighed 190kg!!!!
 
Working in a male-dominated trade, do you ever feel you've got to be 'one of the guys'?
Sometimes I think the guys should actually learn how to be one of the girls!
 
Who would be invited to your dream dinner party and what would be served?
I’d invite Mr. [Silvio] Berlusconi, his wife and few of his girlfriends and serve Tiramisu Cake ("Pick me up" in Italian) - that would be something to see...
 
What three ingredients couldn’t you live without?
Fresh produce, clear water and the love which does into preparing the food.
 
What’s the best part of being a chef?
Simple. Pleasing people and making new friends.
 
And if you weren’t a chef, what would you be?
A psychologist.

Check out Simonetta Garelli’s cooking at Giovanni’s at the Sheraton, Hongqiao
5 Zunyi Nan Lu (6275 8888)

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