Hong Kong is another world: Italian chef Antonia Klugmann on her first trip to the city
This is your first trip not only to Hong Kong but to Asia as well. What are your impressions? “I rarely travel, and then it’s only for work. Hong Kong is another world. I was shocked to see dried fish. It’s so different from Italian dried food. We don’t have as many varieties, like scallops, fish stomach, octopus, whole dried duck.”
You grew up in Trieste, in northeastern Italy. What was it like? “We have people from everywhere – Turkish, Serbians, Croatians, Slovenians, British, Italian, French – and they have brought things for 600 years into our kitchens. It’s a mix that is unique in Italy. Every family in Trieste has a different story.
“My grandfather was born in Switzerland and his family arrived in Trieste just before World War I. He met my grandmother while he was hiding from the Nazis in World War II. My grandmother was from Trieste and was one of the first women who graduated from university in the 30s, in languages, in Naples. There are people of different origins and in the kitchen they had harmony. I was raised with that variety, so I’m open-minded.”
What are some of the best food memories from your childhood? “I ate fresh raw sardines because I went to the fish market with my father every week. He seasoned them with olive oil, lemon and salt, like they do in the south of Italy. In my grandmother’s house, I ate lasagne, pasta fresca, ravioli. And thanks to the Jewish traditions of my grandfather, who was from eastern Europe, we ate meat with fruit, pickles and red beets.”
When did you learn to cook? “My mother, father and grandfather were doctors and my grandmother was a pharmacist. My other set of grandparents were both teachers. Everybody graduated from university, so it was important for the family that I study. But when I was studying law at university in Milan, I decided to become a cook.
“I was 21. I called my parents, very frightened, and said, ‘I’m so sorry, I want to be a cook.’ I’m lucky my parents let me follow my choice. I started as a dishwasher and apprenticed for four years, not earning much money.”
What made you become a chef? “I’m a creative person and if I wasn’t a cook, I’d be a photographer. I wanted to be the boss [of the restaurant] because I was so interested in the creative part of my job. That’s why I decided, at the age of 26, that I had to open my own restaurant. If you want to be totally in control, you have to be the owner. After six years of renting, I bought the land and built the restaurant from scratch. To earn the money I needed for that, I went to Venice to work as a chef for three years.”
What do you like about cooking? “Everything. It is the expression of what I am from the depths of my heart. I don’t think about anyone else when I’m in the kitchen. I am free. I’m so happy when I cook.”
How did you feel when you found out that L’Argine a Vencò had earned a Michelin star, in 2015? “I remember that day clearly. It was four days before the presentation of the Michelin guide and I was throwing away the trash in my restaurant when I got the phone call. They ask you to come, but they don’t say why. The night before the presentation, I had two chefs in the kitchen and I couldn’t explain why I had to go so early in the morning. Service finished at 2am and I had to be in Milan at 9am; I couldn’t sleep. It was one of the best nights of my life.
“[Recognition from Michelin] is so important for a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere. People in the industry know me and, in Venice, Venissa [where Klugmann was chef] had a Michelin star. But this time it was your place, your risk, your money. My parents were so proud. I was the only one crying. If you are a good cook, you think about every service, what you are doing, why you are doing the job. It’s not only the Michelin stars, but guests’ trust in you when they come to your restaurant. You have to be at that level every time. It’s a good challenge. I like it. I am competitive.”
Tell us about your garden. “The cooks go out twice a day to pick herbs. We forage a lot. I never buy herbs or flowers – there are so many herbs that grow spontaneously and are edible. It’s good for the cooks to understand the rhythm of nature and what is precious. Not what you can buy, but what you can’t buy, because there is no price for it.”
What is your food philosophy? “The most important thing for me when I cook is to be sincere; I don’t copy. That means you have to relate to the ingredients every time in a sincere way and in a different way. A tomato is a tomato, but if you want to have a new idea about a tomato, you have to change. But this is a slow movement because people don’t change right away. So if you want to have a new idea about a tomato every year, you have to first invest in yourself and this is a slow process. You have to study techniques; study what is happening elsewhere while you are in the middle of nowhere. You have to keep your originality, your identity. I find my ideas in this process.”
Do women cook differently from men? “There is no difference at all. For photographers or painters, there’s no gender difference. Unfortunately, women started working professionally late. It’s only in the past 50 or 60 years that a woman can choose what to do with her life. So women have lost 2,000 years of creativity. The kitchen is meritocratic. You are not judged because you are beautiful, ugly or elegant. This is what I love about cooking.”
Antonia Klugmann was in Hong Kong as guest chef at Tosca di Angelo, at the Ritz-Carlton, in Tsim Sha Tsui.
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