It is the moments and details, each and every one, that make a 'visit' to a restaurant a unique experience. An experience that cannot be separated from the dishes; but if the room and the service do not smell as good as the chef's culinary gift, the heartbeat of the kitchen will never be able to envelop us in an unforgettable embrace.
An embrace that starts from afar, as he explains Mattia Garon, young director of the Gellius of Oderzo.
"The first welcome is on the phone, at the time of booking. If there is no genuineness and sincerity, customers sense it immediately. And then, once they arrive at the
restaurant, the first twenty minutes are crucial in making people feel at ease".
Class of 1990, a sincere smile and absolute elegance, from the clothes to the bearing, Mattia is the soul of this place's hospitality.
As a young boy, he dreamed of being a pastry chef, and sweets are still his Achilles heel; a boy with a sure talent in his blood if, at only 16, the first maitre d' at the hotel-management school in Abano Terme (which he attended) threw him headlong into the world of wine: the first lessons and then a summer internship in Switzerland; and again, shortly afterwards, the surprise entry in the 'Italy's best sommelier".
On that occasion Mattia came third (then came first place) and the AIS courses were a logical and direct consequence. Since then, he has come a long way, in catering yes, but not only: hotellerie, catering, trattorias, starred restaurants. Alaimo, Aqua Crua, Calandre e Osteria Francescana stand out among many different experiences.
And then there was London, as his wine studies reached high levels. A year 'away', which later became four, with high standards that moulded him in body and soul.
Mattia Garon is the example that sometimes it takes someone to believe in us, or perhaps someone to make us believe in ourselves.
But even more, it is an example of how, only by following our inclinations, do we truly fulfil ourselves and give our best. "I believe that a job, whatever it is - says Mattia Garon -, if you do it with heart and soul, it engulfs and moulds you. Yes, heart and soul, hand and belly".
And all these elements he brings into play, without a doubt, with an enthusiasm capable of involving not only the rest of the staff but all the guests. Professional enthusiasm, because it is professionalism that makes the difference.
Mattia has experience in the kitchen, knows the raw materials and when he tells you about the dish at the table, he seems to have made it himself; he is a sommelier of high and in-depth knowledge and the
Restaurant Management has no secrets for him.
"Maitre, Restaurant Manager, Director... these are terms that scare me - he reveals -. They preclude full professional training and experience. There is no such thing as a room manager who does not have wine expertise, I do not conceive it. I had great masters, who showed and taught me that passion must be married to professionalism and competence. They would explain the wine, five minutes later they would do the flambé, immediately afterwards they would check that the hollandaise was perfect... These are the models I grew up with and I have tried, and I am trying, to grow all-round, to resemble those models".
It is also thanks to people like Mattia that restaurants become great, restaurants where kitchen and dining room manage to be one. "Heart to belly - smiles Mattia -: kitchen and hall must be this, one an extension of the other, without them overlapping. The only game must be to coordinate and support each other. And this is not a technicality, but a mindset, a mood that we all strive to create together. A club is made up of people, each with their own microcosm, but it is cohesive teamwork that is the only winning gear'..
An approach that Mattia has learnt well abroad, including in England where the "Work Together"is the only possible and desired vision. A team that at Gellius has been created: a room with a single soul, which makes you breathe the kitchen, almost eating as if you were in the kitchen yourself.
Mattia Garon, Luca Toffolon, Aurora Givotti, Fabio Berrini-Ceschi, Lisa Golfetto: smiles and professionalism everywhere. Hearts, souls, hands and bellies ready to involve you in the unique experience of living in a restaurant. They talk to each other with silences and glances, a game of timing and glances that give you, sitting at the table, serenity and joy. OK, and now let's not forget Mattia Garon, a young room manager, also pampers guests by telling them about the wine.
Mattia, how do you listen to the story a wine tells you, and how do you then tell it?
"It is not simple. I believe that the basis to start from is respect. What you have in your glass is a synthesis of work, of hands, of brains, of passion, of sweat, of blood. When you put your nose and mouth into it, you don't have to do it by thinking I'm going to down 5 cl of this wine and see what it leaves in my mouth: the right attention to everything, the right respect for the raw material, for the wine itself and for those who produce it. Then it happens that you taste it and something in you clicks. The great game is played by the producers; listening to a wine told by the person who produced it is always different from listening to it from a sommelier. What I look for inside the glass is that it is directly connected to the territory, to the place it comes from. There is nothing more beautiful than when you open a French Pinot Noir, Burgundy or Pinot Chevre, put it in your nose and it calls you there, it pulls you by force to its birthplace.
Whether you like it or not, our job is to be objective and objective about products.
You pour the wine, you taste it, and maybe you get a whiff of salty air; this can be considered poetry, yes it is objective poetry, because it is a raw material that is directly linked to the territory".
So it's not just about technique, it's also about travelling and tasting a lot
“It is technique, of course, but it is questioning yourself, first of all, and that is the hardest part. You have to be very open-minded. Italy is a great wine country but we are very closed compared to the European trend. In England, for example, you taste a bottle from New Zealand, then you come across a Merlot from Australia, then you open a bottle from Tasmania, South Africa, America... and you are free of prejudice and maybe you realise that the Merlot they make in the Barossa Valley is one of the best. Open-mindedness makes you question everything, starting with the scents. It takes a total knowledge of things, a preparation not only on a technical level but also on a mental and behavioural level".
A preparation that turns into the 'game' of matching wines to dishes before tasting them.
"The sommelier must train his mental palate; he must see and read the ingredients and build them up in his head. This is how you break down the rules: you compose the dish in your mind and try to make a few light bulbs go on! The best combination is one that works well not only on a physical level but also on a conceptual level. Then maybe you want to take a chance, try to propose a new product, a cocktail... but that's another story".
Wine for Mattia Garon is a philosophy made up of a desire for balance, taste and proportion. He says he resembles a wine "angular", the truth is that edgy means dynamic, always open to change and improvement: a heightened awareness of things that helps one move at one's best, whether it is time to serve a wine, welcome new guests or manage critical moments in a service.
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