“During my childhood I liked to accompany my grandfather to the countryside, where he cultivated the vegetable garden, he produced wine and oil, and where he also had a very small cattle farm. What fascinated me the most, however, was on the way home: the preparation of the dishes with those same ingredients just picked. The orecchiette with turnip greens are the dish that has struck the spark in me. But in my childhood memories there are also the Sundays in Bari, my father's hometown, seasoned with real binges of fish bought by fishermen on their return from the sea”.
Very close to his original land, this is how Domenico Francone likes to introduce himself.
His first experience in the world of catering, already in secondary school, is in pastry, a discipline that has always fascinated him.
His career path leads him to travel and experience in prestigious Italian and international restaurants. A Michelin star arrives in Tuscany, at il Ristorante Beck's Banfi, in 2008.
Following the closure of the restaurant, he moved to London where he worked at Heinz Beck's Apsleysstarred restaurant. A magical and exhausting moment at the same time, which gives birth to him with the desire to continue traveling, but which also triggers a strong nostalgia for returning to Tuscany, his land of adoption
And this is where Banfi offers him a second opportunity: to become La Taverna's Executive Chef
In addition to following La Taverna, supported by a talented brigade both in the dining room and in the kitchen, Domenico also reopens the other restaurant, La Sala dei Grappoli, leading him to conquest the Michelin Star in 2020.
"The arrival of the Michelin Star is a great achievement that rewards our immense work and our enormous passion. A conquest that renewes itself every day, when we try to tell our guests about the variety of tastes and colors of Italian cuisine, trying to enhance its infinite potential".
