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 Gavi's New Chef Offers Quality Italian Style By Nicole Boyle
Antonio Morichini started at Armonk's Gavi Restaurant two months ago, and has already brought sweeping changes to the restaurant. Morichini is Italian, born and raised in Rome, and learned his trade in Piedmont at I Cifi Cooking School, where he was trained in Italian cooking techniques. Before he moved to the states, Morichini worked as a sous chef at the one star Michelin restaurant Il Convivio Troiani, "one of the best restaurants in Rome".Morichini started at Gavi a short two months ago, but he's already begun "dramatic" changes to the menu. "The changes were difficult, but mandatory," Morchini says. The most important cornerstone to the new cooking philosophy is freshness and a focus on Italian food. Before Gavi's menu was more focused on Italian-American food, and while Morichini says that while he respects that culinary tradition and "if a costumers opens the door and want something [that's more typically Italian-American] I'm happy to prepare it." He's switching to a more Italian style of cooking. This includes focusing on the taste of individual ingredients and less use of heavy cream and butter, controlling the temperature of the cooking oil, and not using transfats. Most importantly, Morchini is concerned with is quality over quantity, with portions smaller than ones typically associated with Italian restaurants in America. Morichini wants diners to walk out of Gavi feeling "good, you don't feel too full, and hurt for two days. We think about our customer's health, too." For the same reason, Morichini doesn't use preserved foods. Pasta, ravioli, gnocchi, biscotti, all the desserts, are all made fresh in Gavi's kitchen, and fresh fish and vegetables are bought in from farmers’ markets. As a result, Gavi's menu is also very seasonally based. At the end of September it will switch to a fall menu, accompanied by a fall wine list. "Everything is a work in progress," Morichini says, but there are some exciting plans in store. In the future they are considering having a weekly regional night, eventually representing "every region of Italy, starting in the north" and also a monthly wine tasting. Summer is the least busy season at Gavi, but the restaurant is only growing in popularity under its new chef. Both the fish of the day and the homemade pasta (Morichini's favorite dish to prepare) are very popular, and diners have been coming from farther a field, such as Brooklyn and Queens. Even former President and Secretary of State Clinton have recently visited for dinner. Morichini is happy and excited with his work at Gavi because "this kind of job is a huge return [to his Italian culinary roots], the restaurant has a good voice, and people are very happy when they come here." With such good food before them, why wouldn't they be? www.allaboutarmonk.com | Return Home | Directions | Wine List | Photo Gallery | Gavi Menu | Contact Us | Online Reservations | News | Our Chef | |
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