The FINANCIAL -- Two-Michelin-starred Italian chef Moreno Cedroni is set to
open a restaurant at the Baglioni hotel in London.
Cedroni, who runs four restaurants in Italy - including the two-star La Madonnina del Pescatore in Senigallia on Italy's Adriatic coast and Clandestino in Milan - will open his eponymous restaurant at the five-star Kensington hotel in October.
He is the latest in a string of famous Italian chefs to come to London, including Heinz Beck at the Lanesborough and Bruno Barbieri at Cotidie.
Housed in the Baglioni's current Brunello restaurant, Cedroni will run the new restaurant on a consultancy basis. He will install Antonio Bufi as head chef, who will work alongside the existing brigade and the hotel's executive chef, Andrea Vercelli.
"London is the best city in the world for restaurants and I think my food will meet the palate of the London diners," Cedroni said.
Cedroni's cooking combines traditional and modern Italian food with a big focus on raw fish. He is famous for his take on Japanese sushi, susci, which uses classic Italian ingredients, replacing sushi rice with the Italian carnaroli rice, and soya sauce with colatura di alici, a fish sauce.
The menu at Merono Cedroni at the Baglioni will be divided into four sections: raw fish, pasta, traditional and creative dishes. As Caterer and Hotelkeeper reported, the chef said he would aim to source ingredients in the UK and will start to meet suppliers and producers in the coming weeks.
"I use Scottish cod in my restaurant in Italy. I think the seafood here is very good and the majority of the dishes will be fish-based. I will meet with suppliers here and then decide on the rest of the menu," he said.
Cedroni added that he had no ambition for Michelin stars in London. "I gained my first star in 1995 and I had never even heard of Michelin. It's nice to get recognition but I cook for my guests and myself, not for Michelin," he said.
Cedroni opened his first restaurant, La Madonnina del Pescatore, aged 20 in 1984. The restaurant gained its first star in 1995, with the second following in 2006. The chef cites a stage with Ferran Adrià in 1997 as a huge influence on his cooking, which subsequently moved away from traditional Italian flavours to incorporate more contemporary techniques.
In 2000, he opened the Clandestino Susci Bar in Portovono and in 2003 the street food and fish delicatessen Anikò in the centre of Senigallia. In 2010, he started his first consultancy, with Moschino, opening Clandestino Milano. He has also written a number of cookery books, including Sushi & Susci and Multipli di venti (Multiples of 20).
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