The profession of a chef is by now, and probably just so, identified with the cultured and creative image of an artist and researcher. The traditional figure of a good chef has long come to an end: a well-built physique, a merry personality, a great spirit of abnegation around the stove and traditional dishes which have become unimaginative but consolidated by time and repetion. Nowadays a leading or renown chef puts a great emphasis on his public image; an image which is exceptionally well-groomed and obviously free from an expanding waistline.
In the kitchen the chef has a large group of helpers that are always perfectly organized and move in unison to his commands. He is a maitre de cuisine or a master of the kitchen that rarely intervenes during the cooking stage, but prefers to oversee the others working. In short he is a soloist, one that, at the ritual, (and in a certain sense, sacred) moment of the representation, already has everything organized. He has already tried and re-tried the dished, almost always little works of art join together aesthetics and taste, that he will now go and present to his guests. Antonio Fallini falls into the category of those that interpret the profession with this profound conviction. And the results are absolutely worth the wait. With the anxiety of a man that continually wants to know more, to deepen his knowledge and to experiment, Fallini has spent many years in the world’s best restaurants: in the United States, in England and in Japan. And we find him at the top of the best restaurants. Yet when he finds success in one place, he leaves to begin all over in
another place, to put himself to the test and experiment with a new reality. He came here to San Felice not very long ago. He returned after a short-lived estrangement for a new bet with himself.. “I have returned to stay for a long time, perhaps for ever, who knows?”, he confesses.
We experience first hand some of his dishes on a warm evening at beginning of the summer. We realize that our chef has not renounced the traditional cuisine from the Chianti hills and generally the region of Tuscany; in fact quite the opposite. He has made it his own to such extent that he has given it a new lease of life, and allowed it to discover new possibilities. In short, he has changed its appearance, given it a few useful finishing touches and reinvigorated it, all without distorting its profound nature. And so when we taste the plate of Ravioli with Pigeon in a reduced Chianti Classico sauce, we feel grateful to the sacrifice made by the little bird and by the able hand of a man who has succeeded in making the most of the aromas for the pleasure of our taste buds whilst not overpowering us with excessive flavors and overcooking.
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See also:

Chianti Cooking: The Origins, Preserving Chianti Homemade Cooking, Culinary Vacation in Chianti, The Most Famous Butcher of Chianti in Panzano, Chianti Sheep and Pecorino Cheese, The Most Famous Butcher of Chianti in Panzano, Pigs of Chianti – Cinta

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