Chef Floriano Pellegrino explains why an art lesson was the best way to respond to that viral negative restaurant review
HERE'S WHY CONTEMPORARY ART MAY BE THE BEST WAY TO UNDERSTANDING HIS THINKING
Call it the negative restaurant review heard ’round the world.
Yes, we’re talking about that one, in which writer Geraldine DeRuiter posted a scathing review on her website Everywhereist.com about Bros’, a restaurant in Lecce, in Southern Italy, that has the honour of being the only restaurant in the country with a Michelin star. DeRuiter described a recent pricey multi-course meal (as much as €200 per person) at what she called “the worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever.”
She described “meat molecules,” (or “meat droplets,”) “frozen air,” “rancid ricotta,” numerous foams and now, most famously (or infamously) a citrus foam that was served in a plaster cast of the chef’s mouth, absent utensils.
So how did Bros’ chef Floriano Pellegrino choose to respond? With a comparison to abstract art of course.
His written response, shared with Artnet News and other curious media, featured three artworks: a basic drawing of a man on a horse; Jacques Louis David’s dramatic depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte on a horse; and finally a colorful but somewhat crude-looking abstract painting that vaguely suggests a figure on a horse or beast. The drawings were interspersed with commentary by Chef Pellegrino.
Yes, we’re talking about that one, in which writer Geraldine DeRuiter posted a scathing review on her website Everywhereist.com about Bros’, a restaurant in Lecce, in Southern Italy, that has the honour of being the only restaurant in the country with a Michelin star. DeRuiter described a recent pricey multi-course meal (as much as €200 per person) at what she called “the worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever.”
She described “meat molecules,” (or “meat droplets,”) “frozen air,” “rancid ricotta,” numerous foams and now, most famously (or infamously) a citrus foam that was served in a plaster cast of the chef’s mouth, absent utensils.
So how did Bros’ chef Floriano Pellegrino choose to respond? With a comparison to abstract art of course.
His written response, shared with Artnet News and other curious media, featured three artworks: a basic drawing of a man on a horse; Jacques Louis David’s dramatic depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte on a horse; and finally a colorful but somewhat crude-looking abstract painting that vaguely suggests a figure on a horse or beast. The drawings were interspersed with commentary by Chef Pellegrino.
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