Italian chef Roberto Cerea, of Michelin starred three-star Da Vittorio, on working with family
- The Italian pays tribute to his father, who, like a ‘very good football coach’ directed all five of his children into the family’s Bergamo business
What was your childhood like? “Da Vittorio restaurant was opened in 1966 by my father and mother, and I was born six years later, so I was born in the pan – for me it was a big one! My childhood was all about food. My parents were always in the restaurant.
“In Italy the family is very important so when we were young – my two brothers and two sisters – we all helped my parents. From the age of 11, every day after school I came to the restaurant, took off my school bag and started working. My father was like a very good football coach; he would quickly figure out what us kids were good at. If he saw someone a bit skinny, he would have them work as a server, because they would be a good runner. If someone was a bit round like me, they worked in the kitchen.”
Were you interested in the restaurant? “As a young boy my priority was playing, girls and hanging out with friends, but I was forced by my parents to work in the kitchen. Gradually I realised that I actually liked the work, cooking dishes and creating them. I realised this is what I should do.
“Enrico is the first son, and he was the first to go into the kitchen. But the maestro is actually my father, the coach who pushed us to love the job, and the quality of the products, like fish and meat. Da Vittorio was the first to bring seafood to northern Italy. Bergamo is in the centre of the country, so it was difficult to get seafood there.
“In the beginning that wasn’t easy. I grew up learning how to cook so I didn’t go to culinary school. But when I finished high school, at about 18 years old, I had a plan to go abroad and do internships to learn new things, so I went to France. In the 1990s, French was considered the top cuisine, along with Italian, Chinese and Japanese.”
