Stefano Antoniolli

I’m 36. I was born in Italy, in Roncade, which is not far from Venice.
My professional path began when I was a child. My family was always good at cooking. My father worked at a restaurant, and when I was six I started helping him at weekends with such big events as weddings and christening parties. At that age I already knew what I would do in the future.

Then I studied for 5 years in the Hotel Business School in Italy and got Professional Chef Diploma. Then for two years I worked and trained in Dubai in a 5-start hotel Le Meridien Forte Grand, which at that period had already been named Best Airport Hotel Worldwide, and Italian restaurant of which had been already acknowledged as the best Italian restaurant abroad.

Then I came back to Italy, since I had to serve in the army. In the army, I served in the kitchen and cooked for high rank officers. Then I was offered to open Italian restaurant Da Vinci in Kiev, at the European Square. It was 1999 then. I also participated in the opening of Da Vinci in Kharkov and Leo Club in Kiev. After a while, I was offered a contract by the owners of Avalon Restaurant in Kiev and Ministerium Dogma Club in Odessa. Now I’m so to say a supervisor of these restaurants.

I’m married. My wife’s name is Olga, she lives in Kiev. My son is 8 years old and he’ll be at the second grade soon.

I became a chef at 23, when I came to Kiev. It is unusual for Italy. Italy is attached to a great extent to its traditional cuisine. In Kiev, I got an opportunity to cook not only classic dishes, but to also search for new combinations, new ways of serving and design, because here people are ready to try something new. Besides, the owners are very open-minded, that’s why I have an opportunity to fulfil my potential and not to deal only with classic dishes.

I like my work and everything that is related to it. I like to meet famous chefs and to get knowledge from them. I like to learn about new methods. I read a lot of books related to my profession. I attend courses, visit other restaurants. I like to decorate dishes and tables for drink receptions and to cut out landscapes and sculptures from vegetables and fruits. I like to surprise guests. Today, the world of culinary is the art with different areas. And I like them all.

I dream of having my own restaurant in Italy, because, all the same, my roots remain in my home country. I want to be involved with the dish from the very beginning, starting from cultivating products and till the very end. It’s because I want to receive a 100% result.

I don’t like aggressive people, those, who don’t respect the work of others, those, who don’t understand how much was put into the work. I like peace, because in gives an opportunity to think and to create. That’s why I try not to be rude with my employees and just to explain them their mistakes and to help in correcting it. I think that there should be a pleasant atmosphere at work, and that people shall be in a good mood.

I can speak fluently 4 languages: Italian, Russian, French and English. A bit of Ukrainian and Spanish. I like foreign languages, and I’m good at learning them. I’d like to also learn Chinese and Japanese.

I’d like to advice to the readers, especially to cooks and chefs the only thing: never stop your development, read books, exchange experience with other chefs and be never afraid of trying something new. It happens that an idea can’t be brought into life at a given moment, because there are no means to do it yet. But you can always put it aside and to come back to it later.

I’ve chosen the dish «Black fettuccine with salmon», because this dish represents development of the culinary and movement from the past to the present. Besides, don’t forget I’m Italian, and pasta is what Italians are associated with.