Tony Rosetti

My name is Tony Rosetti. I’m the chef of Noti Restaurant & Bar, luring the guests with Italian dishes in Singapore. Title of the bar is an anagram of my name. So yeah, I’m still the owner.

Singapore is home to over 5 million people, and I was born in the small Italian town where less than two thousand people. Palmariggi, the city in the province of Lecce, is situated on the tip of the Italy «heel». On the 31th of March I was born on the «heel».

It all started not from an empty place. In culinary, I had a terrific foundation and stone wall behind shoulders. My parents managed a very successful restaurant in our small town. I can say, that I grew up in the restaurant business. Antonella and I, my elder sister, helped our parents while being young madcaps.

Here is and my first memory of working in the restaurant, I was 5. I helped bringing cups and plates to the kitchen. How much has changed since then, but this memory I store carefully.

And what do you think, a year later I got promoted. By 6 years my dad has given me a coffee machine, and so I took out to it, gave me a wooden stool, which also was made by himself. So that I could climb up and make a strong espresso.
It was my career path in the kitchen of my family. Then I became a waiter and then I got to the kitchen, I became my mother’s assistant.

The restaurant was a big part of our life and our house because in fact it was very close to the place where we lived. My mom cooked, and my dad was the manager of the restaurant. Here it’s, family’s idyl.

So I worked with the family to 17 years. Then I decided to take a higher level, because it was interesting for me. I started an internship at the hotel Excelsior Montreux, Switzerland. This experience sparked a passion inside me, and begot ambitions. Every guy has ambitions in the 17-18 years old, and I was proof of this.

I decided to build a career in this business, and didn’t change my decision to this day.

My passion and my fascination realized themselves in July 2013th. I opened my own and my first restaurant Noti. You could cook for a long time, to be a chef, but it can’t be compared with the creation of a new gastronomic place, absolutely yours. Trite to compare it with the child? Probably, but I’m living my dream.

I must admit, before that I wasn’t without business. I have worked in top international hotels with 5 stars above their names, and built a successful career. Luxury Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo, the cult Savoy in London, The Gleneagles in Scotland, Four Seasons in Milan, Park Hyatt in Paris, and finally, Grand Hyatt Singapore. I got a unique experience in how to run a restaurant, work professional kitchens, and even the way how people are inspired and create food art. I saw the inside and face of the restaurants.

With that knowledge I went from under a wing of the big hotels and created my own place.
I must say, all these big hotels don’t let me forget about childhood experience. On the contrary, lots of the lessons in service and management of the restaurant I still remember from my dad. And this knowledge is even more valuable than I have received from world-renowned professionals.

From my mother I inherited her love for cooking. I had learned a lot from her, and, moreover, learning and now. Anyway — want to find out how cook my Italian mother, come to Noti. Most of the recipes are traditional, it’s from her kitchen.

Together Mom and Dad were dynamic, perfect team. I feel very lucky that I learned from them. To watch, to intercept skills and to dream. From thoughts to the realization of a dream. Thanks to them, I opened Noti.
What I like to eat? Hmm. Let’s divide the answer into 2 parts.

As an Italian, I like pasta. When I work, it’s generally my daily food.
On days off, I like cooking for the family. Yeah, I don’t drop this thing, and start the day with the purchase of fresh baguette for breakfast and excellent beef, then to make the Florentine steak or tartar. It’s followed by sweets: tarts, pies, cakes.

Living in Singapore and having the opportunity to learn all the variety of Asia cuisine, I don’t miss such a pleasure. I like local food: Hainanese rice with chicken and roti Prata — pancakes on the grill, served with beef or chicken curry.

Returning home to Italy, I didn’t get around without a big family barbecue. Backyard home, family, friends, a very different air and memories of childhood. It fuels me with energy and recalls where it all began, and which way I went through.

My hobby is to cook, to eat good food and to drink good wine.
Well, besides that I still have lots of interests. I like watching documentaries, read books from top chefs — Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White. You never know when the light bulb will light with a new idea, but these guys like to illuminate me.

No, I didn’t stop. I like buying different things for the kitchen, equipment and other. The same story is that women have with shoes. They can never be enough.

My kitchen’s fetish now — pots from the company Staub. I like them all: color, shape and quality. By the way, every time I buy dishes in a new shade of. With these pots my workplace in the kitchen always looks juicy.
Outside the kitchen, I like shoes. I like that made by hands — Tod’s, Church, and another limited edition collection of sneakers from Adidas, Diadora, Asics Tiger. Like sports shoes with retro design.

I think it’s often so. Actors’ children try their hand at film, nephews of singers make clips. But now is it everything from the heart? I don’t know. I know only that I really found my life’s work in my childhood when in 5 years I carried cups and plates on the restaurant kitchen of my parents. It’s happiness to do what you love. Don’t change it no matter what and you will achieve success.

Dish on the photo — gnocchi with pesto and shrimps. I chose it because it’s traditional for my region. Conjures up memories of the sea and the flavors of childhood.