“I FEEL YOUNGER”
Italy born Vittorio Greco(46) has citizenships of
two countries- Italy and Australia; he also owns two houses in these countries; interestingly,
he runs two Ottimo Italian restaurants- one in Bengaluru (ITC Gardenia) the other in Chennai(ITC Grand Chola).
When
asked about the challenge of heading two restaurants in two different states in
India, he answered: " I do really feel younger. Challenge is good only. Working with
a younger team is really an elevating experience" says Chef Greco.
ITC Gardenia has a 55 seater Ottimo Restaurant while ITC Grand Chola Ottimo has 110 seats. "Chennai Ottimo, which has
been opened two years back is presently doing very well business wise"
informs Chef Greco.
Chef Greco had joined ITC Gardenia two years
back, and the Italian Restaurant of this hotel has been opened early April this year. Come Feb 2015, both
Gardenia and Grand Chola will have brand new menu. "80 per cent of the
menu remains the same for both the hotels" says Chef Greco, who started working as a Chef when he
was just 15 years old.
His
advice to the young chefs: "look
around and learn more. Keep your mind open. Teach more at the same time learn
more. Teach other Chefs how to understand the cuisine, not to cook"
Greco
comes from a poor family. Of the five siblings, he is the youngest. He is
married to Barbara and blessed with
a daughter, Valentine (23), who in
turn is blessed with two year old daughter Maria.
He lives with his wife in Bengaluru; guess who is
his second daughter?
Four year old Rene, a Doberman.
Text
and pics: R Kesava Mallia in Bengaluru
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