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Riding through

Culinary Paths

Balancing his two passions for gastronomy
and motorcycling, the Restaurant Manager of Ristorante
Locatelli, Mario Rosario Gravante, has already

made many culinary miles, with Locatelli

being his favourite destination.

On his brand Given your impressive experience next to Giorgio
new Ducati 821 Locatelli, what is the most important lesson you
Hypermotard, acquired and adapted in your philosophy?
Mario Rosario
Gravante is Since I started my career in Locatelli brand,
ready for new namely in 2004, I’ve been amazed by the
gastronomical
experiences and philosophy of Giorgio Locatelli himself about how
memories made important is to make the team feel comfortable
of tastes and during their duty at work and more important
aromas.
to take care of each and any of them. In fact, in
Ristorante Locatelli at AMARA, we call our team,
family. We hug each other at our arrival at work,
we celebrate colleagues' birthdays with cake and
presents like a family member. We do also spend
time out of work, for example we are going to the
waterpark to spend the day together, while we
often visit wineries as well. Personally, it makes
me very proud to go to work every single day. experience, what tastes and aromas would you
Is using local produce an advantage taking into choose?
consideration the gastronomical demands? That would be oysters and champagne.
Sometimes, thinking about Cyprus is like thinking What triggered your passion for motorbikes and
about an Italian island, such as Sardinia or Sicily. how did it start and evolve?
The heart of Mediterranean Sea is reflected on the I had my first motorbike when I was eight years
saying “una faccia, una razza”. Local ingredients old. Of course, it was not mine; I was stealing
like potatoes, tomatoes or kid goat are used my brother’s. On my first working experience
equally. I note especially the young goat, as it is being just 13 years old, on my return home, I
the main ingredient for our tagliatelle al ragu. said to my father “I am not going to give you my
This is our star dish. I can recall the time when a salary, because I want to buy a motorbike”. Since
new guest showed us a picture of the dish saying then, I have never lost the passion for driving
“My friend has been here and he suggested that motorcycles.
I should order it”. That makes us proud to be able If you were to make a motorcycle road trip based
to highlight local kid goats. on gastronomy, what route would you take?
What are the fundamental principles of culinary That’s a beautiful question. While I just bought
perfection? my motorbike 24 hours ago, of course an Italian
The foundation of culinary perfection comes Ducati 821 Hypermotard, I would love to start my
from: the research of fresh ingredients, the culinary trip from the Ventimiglia- Liguria region
simplicity of presentation, the originality of and finish in Trieste, basically all the Italian boot
recipes, and guests' feedback. by seaside. That is a dream of 7,000 km more or
If you were to describe the AMARA gastronomic less visiting all old ports and fishing villages.

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