从意大利到重庆，故乡的梦在异乡成了真

◇ 文 |见习记者 胡 婷 图| 刘汪洋 受访者供图

从意大利到重庆，故乡的梦在异乡成了真

◇ 文 |见习记者 胡 婷 图| 刘汪洋 受访者供图

在渝中区较场口得意世界，一家名为Alessi的意式餐厅被许多重庆人熟知。老板兼主厨是Alex，意大利人，从11岁起就迷上了做菜，梦想着拥有自己的餐厅。

在欧洲工作多年后，Alex人生的第一间餐厅，竟然开在了万里之外的重庆。

不过，遥远的距离和迥异的城市，并没有给他带来陌生感。在重庆生活了7年，他脑海中的故乡和异乡，几乎融为了一体。

In the Deyishijie, Jiao Chang Kou, Yuzhong District, an Italian restaurant called Alessi is familiar to many people in Chongqing. Alex, the owner and chef from Italy, has dreamed of opening his own restaurant since he fell in love with cooking at the age of 11.

After working in Europe for a few years, Alex finally opened his first restaurant in Chongqing thousands of miles away.

However, the distant and totally different city was not strange to him. After 7 years living in Chongqing, this city is no more a foreign land but almost his hometown.

偷吃一颗土豆做的“糖”

Driven by a “Sugar” Made from Potato

初见Alex，他穿着一身白色厨师服，头发用发胶立起，整洁干练。他的眼神安静柔和，散发出意大利男人特有的浪漫气息。“我在中国生活了12年，在重庆呆了7年。”时间的印记似乎是最简单又最有力的城市体验。大部分时间，他都在自己的餐厅里，而他的厨师生涯早在11岁那年便开启了。

那时，Alex看见妈妈在厨房切菜，形状看上去像是糖，趁妈妈不注意，他便偷偷吃了一颗。没想到，这“糖”竟然是土豆和面粉做的。妈妈告诉他，这是意大利的传统食物——土豆团面。“好神奇！从面粉、土豆、再到成型的土豆团面，竟是这样！”回忆起往事，Alex满脸孩子般惊奇兴奋的神情。从那以后，他开始跟母亲学习做菜，12岁时，已经能独立制作蛋糕了，“虽然脸上和衣服上到都处沾满面粉，但还是很惊喜。”

“我想要知道得更多。”靠着这个念头，Alex敲开了职业生涯的大门。

2003年，他从意大利一所烹饪学校毕业，开始辗转于欧洲餐饮界。当他得知中国拥有和西方完全不同的饮食文化时，“想要知道更多”又驱使他来到中国。

At first sight of Alex, he wore a white chef suit with hair gelled up, clean and tidy. His eyes are quiet and soft, radiating the signature romance of Italian gentleman. “I have been in China for 12 years, 7 years living in Chongqing.” Time seems to be the simplest but most powerful proof of one’s city experience. He spent most of his time in his restaurant, and his career could be set back to the year as early as he was eleven.

At that time, Alex saw his mother chopping something sugar-shaped in the kitchen. Taking advantage of his mother’s inobservance, he sneaked one and ate it. Beyond his expectation, the “sugar”was actually made from potato and flour. Mom told him that it is the traditional Italian food, potato gnocchi. “Fantastic! Flour and potato just could be made into a shaped potato pastry.” Alex was still surprised and excited like a child. Since then, he has started to learn cooking from his mother. When he was 12, he was able to make a cake all by himself. “I was quite pleasantly surprised, although my face and cloth were covered with flour.”

“I want to know more about cooking.” thinking about this, Alex embarked on his cooking career.

After graduating from a cooking school in Italy in 2003, he began to fight his way in European catering field. When he learned that China has a completely different food culture from the West, the idea of “wanted to know more”was driving him to China.

开了像家一样的餐厅

Run a Home-style Restaurant

2007年，Alex在上海一家意大利餐厅担任行政总厨，还在上海遇到了他的女朋友、现在的妻子Tina。2011年，俩人来到重庆，Alex很容易就找到了大酒店的工作。

然而拥有一家属于自己的餐厅，是厨师Alex始终没有忘记的梦。

童年时，他常和母亲一起做菜。在他看来，用餐的地方就该像家一样，轻松、愉悦、温暖。于是，Alex把餐厅布置成了浓浓的意式家庭风。墙体用不规则的石块堆砌，木桌带有古老年轮质感，桌上有明亮的烛台……除了家乡的设计，原汁原味的“家乡菜”更是他的拿手好戏。Alex的想法很简单，就是让重庆人民感受真正的意大利美食和文化。

2014年12月，他的意大利餐厅Alessi在较场口开业了。

难的是，很多意大利菜的食材重庆几乎没有，“比如新鲜的香料，像罗勒、芝麻菜等等，很难找到，还有很多食材需要进口，如火腿芝士等。”Alex选择“入乡随俗”。他用不太流利的普通话说出了空心菜、苦瓜、绿色的嫩南瓜这些意大利没有的蔬菜，他说在认识了这些新的食材后，他尝试用意式方法烹饪出来。不过对于菜品品质、上菜流程，他依然坚持严格和严谨，有的菜如果原材料缺了，他就坚决不做。

In 2007, Alex served as the executive chef in anItalian restaurant in Shanghai where he met his girlfriend, now his wife Tina. They came to Chongqing in 2011, and Alex easily found a job in a hotel.

However, running his own hotel is a long-lasting dream of Chef Alex.

In December, 2014, his Italian restaurant, Alessi, opened in Jiao Chang Kou.

As he often cooked with his mother in childhood, in his mind, the place for eating should be like home, cozy, pleasant and warm.Therefore, Alex arranged the restaurant into a strong Italian family style with the wall piled with irregular stones, the wooden tables featured with years of annual rings, the tables adorned with bright candles in stick…In addition, authentic “home cooking” is his forte. Alex’s idea is quite simple, to introduce the authentic Italian food and culture to the people in Chongqing.

He found it is difficult to get some Italian food ingredients in Chongqing, “fresh spices like basil, Eruca sativa etc. are hard to see, and many ingredients need to im-port, such as ham and cheese.”Alex chose to do “in Rome as Rome does”. He listed the vegetables that Italy does not have in a little bit influent mandarin, like the spinach, bitter gourd, green tender pumpkin. He tried to cook his newly known ingredients in the Italian way, but is still very strict and rigorous in the quality of dishes and their serving process. He would rather not do some dishes if the raw material for them is unavailable.

两种热情异曲同工

The Shared Warmth

Alex出生在意大利威尼托，那里的地貌和重庆有些相似。“所以当初来重庆的时候，我很快就适应了整个城市的交通。”Alex还记得，那时解放碑是重庆最繁华的地方，“这几年，重庆发展很快，高楼林立，满眼的都市感。”

除了地理环境相似，Alex发现重庆和他的家乡都富有激情和生命力。“在意大利，熟人相见会特别热情地说‘Ciao’，然后拥抱，我觉得这与重庆人的热情和直爽有着异曲同工之妙。”不过，他眼中的重庆人还有着自由随性的一面。“重庆人夏天吃火锅，有的会自然地把衣服撩起来，或是光着膀子，喝着啤酒。如果我今晚去吃火锅，也有可能这样。”

身为厨师，Alex总是习惯像这样用食物来梳理自己对重庆的认知。他用略显生硬的中文细数着喜爱的重庆美食：“炒五花肉、辣子鸡丁、宫保鸡丁……我最喜欢的是小面和牛肉面。”

“你认为哪一道菜最能形容意大利和重庆的关系？”他的答案是意大利肉酱宽面。“重庆人很喜欢吃面，这和意大利很类似。意大利肉酱宽面和重庆的杂酱面很相似的，都有面和肉沫。但肉酱的做法和面的材质都是不一样的。”

在Alex看来，无论是意式美食还是中餐，所传递的不只是食物本身，还有食物代表的文化，外来人适应当地的食物，尊重当地美食文化，就成为了融入当地文化的过程。

Alex was born in Veneto, Italy, where the landscape is somewhat similar to that of Chongqing. “So, I quickly adapted to the city’s traffic when I first came to Chongqing.” Alex still remembers that Jiefangbei at that time was the most prosperous place in Chongqing, “Chongqing has developed rapidly in recent years, as you can see modern skyscrapers mushroomed.”

In addition to geographical similarity, Alex found that Chongqing is as passionate and vital as his hometown. “Italians will warmly say‘Ciao’and then hug each other when they meet. I think people in Chongqing share the same warmth and are as welcoming as our Italians.” Moreover, Chongqing people are free and casual. “They eat hot-pot in summer, and some would up-roll the cloth to bare the stomach or arms, enjoying the beer. If I go to eat hot pot tonight, I would be so.”

As a chef, Alex is always used to sorting out his perception of Chongqing with food. He counts his favorite Chongqing food in a bit stiff mandarin:“fried pork, spicy chicken, Kung Pao Chicken ... and xiaomian (Chongqing noodles) and beef noodles are my favorite.”

“What kind of dish do you think is the best one to describe the relationsbetween Italy and Chongqing?”His answer is Ragu alla Bolognese(a kind of Italian pasta).“Both Chongqing people and Italians like eating noodles. Ragu alla Bolognese is similar to Chongqing’s zhajiangmian(noodles with soy bean paste), and both have noodles and diced meat. But the practice of the paste and the noodles are different.”

In Alex’s view, no matter Italian food or Chinese food, they both convey not only the food itself but also the culture behind. To adapt to and respect the local food is the way for foreigners to integrate into the local culture.

An Italian Dream Weaver in Chongqing

Article | Hu Ting Pictures | Liu Wangyang Interviewee