Turn culinary moments into memories

MAINZ. the new menu is ready - together with his team, the new head chef of the gourmet restaurant at the Favorite Parkhotel, Aniello Casalino, has been presenting it to guests since 27 August. The 31-year-old has come to Mainz directly from the Traube Tonbach in Baiersbronn. In an interview provided by the hotel, he reveals what guests at the Favorite Restaurant in Mainz can look forward to:

What should definitely not be missing from your first menu as head chef?

"I would like to introduce myself to the guests with my first menu. That's why it was only natural that this menu should consist of dishes that I like to eat myself. For example, a lime cream risotto with confit tomatoes, with a mussel shell cream. Or lobster with cauliflower - where I want to show how varied cauliflower preparation can be. I'm not giving any more away yet, but I'm really looking forward to presenting my menu for the first time very soon."

How does it feel to be designing your own menu as a chef for the first time?

"It fills me with pride and gratitude that the Barth family's gourmet restaurant at the Favorite Parkhotel is giving me the opportunity to realise my ideas and start from scratch. Of course I have respect for this task, I am very excited and full of anticipation for the guests. I think there are still many emotional moments waiting for me in the coming months. But it's also important to me that everything we do in the kitchen is a team effort. The brigade and I create together."

What is important to you when presenting your dishes?

"I want to present the plates as elegantly as possible. And the guest should be able to see what they are eating. When I have ideas for a dish, I don't just think about the ingredients and recipe, I also draw a sketch of it. For me, a dish is always a complete work of art in which aesthetics also play an important role. I'm a perfectionist in every respect: first and foremost, it has to taste good - and the second, equally important goal is that it looks good. "

Where does your great passion for cooking come from?

"Clearly from my family. My grandparents had a classic Italian restaurant in Ludwigsburg. I practically grew up in this restaurant. My mum cooked with me in her arms. My school was right next door and I was always in the kitchen my whole childhood and youth. Since then, my biggest dream was to be in the kitchen myself."

And then - after a brief detour into the world of banking - you completed your training at the Italian Chef Academy in Rome...

"I realised very quickly that even free evenings and weekends in a bank job couldn't change my mind: I only ever wanted to be in the kitchen. It was my wish that I stayed in Italy at Heinz Beck's restaurant La Pergola after my chef training in Rome. After all, Italian cuisine was the one that moulded me. The first dish I ever cooked - back then as a child - was spaghetti vongole. The next very important station in my life was the Traube Tonbach. This is where I grew and developed."

Do you have a role model in the kitchen?

"Not a role model in the classic sense. But if there's anyone whose career fascinates me, it's Massimo Bottura. Not primarily because of his numerous Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, but because he manages to convey emotions with his food. When I think of the many evenings with my family near Naples, where we all sit around a long table together, savour the food until late into the night and simply have a good time, then that's exactly what I want: to create moments for my guests with my dishes that will become memories."