Quartet of chefs gather for 20-year celebration of Grissini

To kick off the Italian Cuisine Asia Summit, all four executive chefs from Grand Hyatt's Grissini restaurant's 20 year history gathered for a gala dinner on Tuesday. The full house of roughly 120 guests left the calorie-counting at the door, as everyone was spoiled with a five course dinner with pairing wines. The 'Grissini Brigade', as they were called, comprised (from left) Gabriele Colombo (1989 to 1994), Mario Caramella (2000 to 2003), Marco Avitabile (1995 to 1998) and current head chef Marco Torre. With the ristorante considered, even by competitors, as the first place where quality Italian food was served in Hong Kong, it was only fitting the summit started there, too. 'Twenty years ago I received a call asking me if I would be interested in working in Hong Kong,' recalled Colombo. 'I flew to Milan to attend the interview and they asked if I would like to be the chef de cuisine of a new Italian restaurant in Hong Kong's flagship property of Hyatt. I said that I would think about it and my mother said 'take the chance'. I remember my arrival from Italy and my team of 12 chefs warmly welcomed me at the airport.'

Since then, three other kitchen generals have held the fort and each fondly remarked on Hong Kong patrons' sophisticated tastes and knowledge of fine Italian food. Kindly, nobody mentioned any guest ever returning a plate of al dente pasta to complain it wasn't cooked enough. So, what did the four chefs, meeting collectively for the first time, discuss when they were on their own? 'Twenty per cent of our communications involved food,' Torre revealed. 'For the rest, we talked mostly about things not to be reported.'