Grew up in the kitchen among plates and pots, Agostino Bartoli is one of the up-and-coming chefs in Apulia's restaurant scene, and one of the most prominent figures in a city that wants to be reborn. His restaurant, At the Red Cat, is located in one of the most picturesque corners of Taranto, in the centre of the old Umbrian village and facing a spectacular view of the Mar Piccolo.
Beware of the Red Cat!
Agostino Bartoli embodies the 3rd generation of a family of restaurateurs. His grandparents, Pietrina and Agostino, met during the war and received as a gift from her father a room in front of the current restaurant. Driven by excellent business and the economic boom of those years, in 1960 they opened the Trattoria Al Gatto Rosso. Proud of his origins, the chef re-proposes daily seafood dishes typical of the local culinary tradition, mixing ingredients and revisiting them in a gourmet key. Thus takes shape a menu that makes simplicity its must, but does not deny combinations that wink at the fusion trends of contemporary cuisine.
F.L.: How does it feel to carry on every day what was your grandparents' dream?
A.B.: It is a great commitment, but above all a great motivation. It is one of the recurring thoughts of my working days. When the management of the Red Cat passed into my hands, at the most critical moments the thought of giving it all up came to my mind. Then I thought back to my grandparents, their history, the origins of a restaurant that has been here for almost 60 years, and I felt a strong responsibility to keep it going. The memory of them is what has always given me the strength to continue growing and improving.
D.L.: Tradition and modernitytwo concepts and often seem at odds in contemporary cuisine. What is your point of view on this?
A.B.: Tradition and innovation can, indeed must, travel on the same track. If we always cooked only old-fashioned dishes, we would risk boring our customers. My philosophy is to preparing traditional dishesrevisiting its ingredients and cooking methods.
For example, the tubettini with mussels are a typical dish that all housewives know how to prepare and, if cooked with real Taranto musselsremains one of the best firsts you can eat on this earth. In my restaurant we cook the mussel in a vacuum, keeping it for 14 minutes at 85°, sealed in a bag with all the necessary flavourings and ingredients. Once cooled, opening the bag we have a mussel that looks raw in appearance and meaty in texture, but is actually well cooked and even pasteurised. In this way, we reduce cooking time and have an even safer ingredient while maintaining its characteristics.
However, there is no innovation without the basics of tradition. I know a lot of guys who have a lot of technical knowledge about new cooking methods, for example that proposed by molecular cuisine, but if I asked them to make me spaghetti with sea urchins, they wouldn't know where to start.[…]
Find all the info on the delicious Taranto restaurant by visiting the the official website of the Red Cat.
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