Massimiliano Delle Vedove, the young chef who has returned Dani García to the Michelin firmament

"Come, vidi, vici."

The Latin expression attributed to Julius Caesar goes to the hair and not only because he shares nationality with the Italian military and politician.

(Latisana, Udine, 1991) "arrived" almost eight months ago at the Dani García Group, "looked" and "conquered" ... in a big way the Michelin inspectors.

Or, what is the same and in a more homeland version, arrive and kiss the saint.

Smoked Room

, the exclusive space -14 diners- dedicated to the embers and the smoke that the Marbella chef opened last June in Madrid, with Massimiliano at the helm, has just suddenly won two stars from the Michelin firmament, by surprise. something

.

A few hours have passed since this

stepped on the stage of the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofía (Valencia) and put on the mandatory Michelin chef jacket, perhaps that is why he has not yet managed to remove his face and voice of astonishment (in addition tired).

"

I knew that things did not look bad, because we are doing well, but ... I still have to assimilate it, and

but now I am looking forward to changing my clothes and going to work. After the service, we will celebrate with the whole team. "

First things first, it goes without saying within minutes of starting meal service.

Dani García and Massimiliano (right) after achieving the two 'macarons'.

It is not that Massi -as they call him- the vocation was born in childhood, that adolescence is already awakening.

"My mother was

English

at a cooking school and I spent a lot of time there, I watched the cooks work."

And there the discovery began.

"

and I decided to try, because at this age no one really knows what he wants," he recalls.

After finishing school, he had his first experience in a small hotel restaurant, some months that helped him to think that

.

"The director told me that if I wanted to dedicate myself to haute cuisine, he would take me to a

."

Said and done. Massi got doubts and own fears of old - "it was the first time I left home" - suitcase and headed for the

at the

(Casole d'Elsa, Tuscany) for their first practice

. "The head chef told me

." And, as far as we know, the former happened. He was 19 years old and 11 years later the idyll continues.

Of empirical training, Massimiliano's school "has been the countries to which I have traveled, the different culinary places I have known and

I have passed through", most of them with finery of the Red Guide (predestination?).

For example, the Londoner

(one star);

, at the Four Seasons in Florence (also with a

);

(restaurant with the Albert Adrià star in Barcelona, ​​closed today) ... And

(in Barcelona), "my second home", add.

The chef, in the center, with the Smoked Room team.

He was there for four years and "it was a great experience. I have a lot of affection for Iván Campos, the owner, who taught me a lot; for Domenico, the executive chef ...

. I fell in love

of this family and their way of working, that's why I take a long time, "he remembers today.

And how did Massi get to Madrid?

Well, love has a lot to do with it:

.

"They offered me the Smoked Room adventure, and my girlfriend is from there. Both things were the same and the

is very important, especially when working at this level."

-Six months running, two stars.

What a balance.

-I think what we have done is something different and totally new for everyone, for the team and for Dani.

We follow the general line that he tells us every day.

-Award to the team, yes, but the Guide launches some compliments: mastery of cooking techniques on charcoal and preparations with subtle touches of smoke that

...

-I am very grateful, but getting two stars in six months, something unthinkable, is only possible

.

I understand that they talk about technique and stuff, but the human side is what has made the difference.

The bar of the restaurant.

Smoked Room "is exclusivity, a unique experience. A small restaurant for 14 people that revolves around a concept that Dani and Javier Gutiérrez have created, but in which we have a

. Thus, With smoke as the common thread, we create a tasting menu in which it is always present, in the main product or in a background or in a mayonnaise. We like to play with it ", says Massi, always escorted by

.

He and his team are aware that this "is the beginning of everything. We have just started. Now we have to show everything and go for the third.

Smoked Room tables.

'THE SURPRISE' BY DANI GARCÍA

And what does Dani García think of what happened?

Well, although he suspected something, he did not imagine that he

through the front door.

"I have been

the Guide for

more than 20 years

, since they gave me the first star 21 years ago.

, in which I have lived all my professional life and, even so, and having passed everything that has happened [his resignation in 2018 to the three stars shortly after the Michelin Guide awarded them],

. I am flattered, grateful and

, says a Dani as happy as he is exhausted, since he reached Valencia, to the gala, from New York

.

"People imagine that the relationship with Michelin is bad, and it is true that they probably did not like my decision,

." And he continues: "Yesterday there were people surprised that we were there, but in the end they are professionals who

, which surprised me, and who have fallen in love with the concept and

".

When he said goodbye to the three jewels, Dani commented that if he ever returned to haute cuisine it would be with a small concept, inspired by restaurants in Japan and

. "

That was in 2018, three years after the future has been fulfilled: Smoked Room, Massimiliano Delle Vedove and two Michelin stars.

Smoked Room:

Paseo de la Castellana, 57 (Hotel Hyatt Regency Hesperia).

Price of the

menu

: 135 euros;

starting in January, 180 euros.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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