Interview with Massimiliano Alajmo

The art of cooking is in his blood: Massimiliano Alajmo represents the fifth generation of restaurateurs in the family. At just 34 years old he is the youngest three-star Michelin chef of all time and has been heading the kitchen of the Le Calandre, a highly-acclaimed Michelin starred restaurant in Padua, Italy, for 15 years. For Rosenthal he designed “in.gredienti”, an unusual tableware set, the excellent design quality of which impressed the so much that they decided to award it a “red dot: best of the best”.

Mr. Alajmo, why does a chef design a set of tableware?
Massimiliano Alajmo: Because the philosophy that went “into” the tableware keeps coming “out” of it.

What design concept does “in.gredienti” follow and to what extent have you been able to draw on your experience as a chef?
Massimiliano Alajmo: This set of tableware follows the same philosophy as the book “In.gredienti”. The word comes from the Latin “ingredi” (to enter), from “in” (toward) and “gradi” (to advance) or “gradus” (step). This collection is called “in.gredienti” because the word’s origin contains – and this is the secret – the sense of our cooking: to go forward, toward the nucleus by understanding and respecting the ingredients. My culinary experience was the key for creating the concept of this tableware. Without a sound knowledge of the principles of cooking, I would not have been able to draft its shape, choose the materials, or define its thickness.

In what respect does “in.gredienti” differ from other classic sets?
Massimiliano Alajmo: As I mentioned, it is different from other sets in its ergonomic shape, tactility and the harmony that it develops with the raw materials from which it is made.

Why does “in.gredienti” do without any kind of ornament?
Massimiliano Alajmo: Because, I think, every chef has to decorate the dish as he prefers.

Was “in.gredienti” a one-time excursion into the world of design or are you planning on other similar projects in the future?
Massimiliano Alajmo: For the moment, this is the only project into the world of design. But at “Le Calandre” we never sleep!

About Massimiliano Alajmo
Massimiliano Alajmo was born May 6, 1974 in Padua, Italy. He represents the fifth consecutive generation of restaurateurs on his mother Rita Chimetto’s side. After receiving his degree from the Pietro d’Abano hotel management school in 1990, he worked in Alfredo Chiocchetti’s restaurant Ja Navalge located in Moena, in Marc Veyrat’s Auberge de l’Eridan in Veyrier du Lac d’Annecy and in Michel Guerard’s Les Pres d’Eugenie in Eugenie Les Bains. Toward the end of 1993, he took over the management of the Le Calandre kitchen as chef, safeguarding the Michelin star that his mother Rita had received in 1992. In December 1996, Le Calandre was awarded two Michelin stars, thus turning it into the youngest two-star restaurant ever. In a review, Paolo Marchi described Massimiliano Alajmo as a “Mozart of the kitchen.” In November 2002, Le Calandre was awarded three stars; Massimiliano Alajmo thus became the youngest chef ever to be awarded three stars. Moreover, he is also active in charitable work: together with his brother Raffaele he is one of the founders of the group “The Pleasure of Researching” (Il Gusto per la Ricerca), an organisation that promotes wine and food tasting events to raise funds for infant disease research.