Marco Tacchetto, the chef who reinvents Orobianco without thinking about the star or the labels

Orobianco: Italian roots, Spanish heart (or soul) and

of the world, because here the idea is not to be closed to anything, nor to put on labels.

This is how

(Due Carrare, Padua, 1978) describes this dining room that seems

from a hill and with

.

Both -chef and restaurant- have embarked on a new gastronomic life together.

Since its opening, in 2015,

(with the Italian chefs Enrico Croatti and Ferdinando Bernardi), and

(he has trained and worked with Oriol Balaguer; Xavier Sagristà, chef for 10 years at ElBulli; Andoni Luis Aduriz in Mugaritz; in Maze by Gordon Ramsay; in The Fat Duck; in Lido 84...).

And from the summer of 2021 cook and dining room share the path.

"I was at my parents' house, in Italy, and after a while resting and studying, I felt the desire to embark on a new stage again," recalls Tacchetto, sitting at a table on this balcony overlooking the Mediterranean that Orobianco had.

His contacts and concerns about "

but he received another call - this one literally - to take charge of the Calpe establishment.

He couldn't help but succumb.

The dining room and its spectacular views of the sea and the Peñón de Ifach.

"I am in love with Spain",

explains a Mario who for the third time allowed himself to be "transported" to our country.

"In life, there are stages and experiences in which professional and personal concerns arise, internal movements, conditioning...

and now I'm here," he says with a smile.

A here and a now that have cleared the way (that is,

) for the restaurant to build a different route, a renewed Orobianco.

Thus, they have just launched their

"I don't want limits. I don't want to deprive myself of the splendid raw material of the area, but neither do I want to deprive myself of a great hake from the Bay of Biscay, the products of my land or those that I have met on my travels."

Because many dishes "arise from memory, from the mother or grandmother, from a friend, from a smell... Everything can be inspiring," adds Tacchetto.

And with these culinary muses, the chef devises a series of dishes that he

"We prepare them with the season and what we find on the market and we build them according to the taste and appetite of the diner", explains

room manager, just before the longest menu passes by our table in this dining room that today [last Friday] offers the views of a cloudy Calpe, but just as spectacular.

The three appetizers to eat with your hands.

A rich and evocative broth of thyme

(very common herb in the area) opens the stomach, followed by three appetizers to eat by hand.

The following dishes reflect the chef's

(international, national and local): mushroom consommé (with marzuelo and ponderosa amanita);

(very popular in the Marina Alta) and topinambur;

leccarda guinea fowl bikini (one of the house's star dishes) topped with bird foie gras;

with turmeric, coriander and sepionet (Italian pasta, Asian spices and Mediterranean marine jewel in coexistence);

artichoke glazed with vermouth.

The following passes share a philosophy

: risotto in tomato water and pistachio cream on the bottom;

suckling pig in porchetta, bitter beer and cucumber;

hake, amanita ponderosa and licorice and

, veal tongue

A version of strawberries with cream (with alchermes liqueur) and a tartlet with white chocolate ganache, brioche and orange blossom inside and covered with a tangerine tuile and banana ice cream

Graffiti bikini.

-What's your objective?

-I don't want to prove anything, just do what makes me happy.

.

"Luckily, I see that the clients are responding [this Easter a lot of Madrid diners have arrived] and that they like what we do. These days, I feel, as Nuria [Carbonell] says, that they make me wave", Marco points out between laughs .

Although they are aware that "everyone cannot like me. That is an illusion.

. If you want to be happy, you have to know how to choose."

That choice translated, albeit not immediately, into "tearing down everything that came before. I have little fear and that helps, but I understand that they said I was crazy at first," he acknowledges.

Especially after the loss of the star.

"I think that to work well you don't have to be aware of the judgment of others.

The first thing is that we and the clients are well and comfortable. The star is one thing more. If they give it to me, great, but I don't expect Michelin or another guide to tell me if I'm good. I'm aware of what I do and I know that not everyone can please me.

No," he asks and answers.

Risotto in tomato water and pistachio cream on the base.

Ditch the issue: "After 20 years in star restaurants, I've got an idea of ​​how they work, and we're at that level. If they think no, nothing happens. It's true that Michelin helps and gives visibility, but

. I work in a pizzeria the same as in a haute cuisine restaurant, with the same demands and the same attention to detail, because

. This is something I say a lot to my team: they are responding well; they are growing and that is worth more than any star".

-Are you a tough boss?

-No.

Nuria, am I tough?

-she asks the person in charge of the room, who answers with a "yes, well, for a few months less" and they both laugh out loud.

Dessert: tartlet with white chocolate ganache with tangerine tuile and banana ice cream.

And it is that Marco

.

He meditates three times a day "very short, because I don't have much time to focus. I was famous for my bad host and I started looking for where those things that hurt you and others were born.

, he points out.

He continues: "I advise everyone. Everyone is responsible for their life, nothing is by chance, and if I am better, so will the team, the clients... It is a wheel,

, because your dishes are connected to who you are".

Tacchetto bets on the seasonal product.

And Marco is a cook, but many more things: a student of philosophy, psychology, holistic medicine, botany, astrology... He studied Economics,

Italian amateur super welterweight champion and "he wanted to be in the world", but an injury just before turning professional took him away from that path and took him to the kitchen.

"Nothing is casual," repeats like a mantra this chef who

- from which herbs and spices come out that he puts in his dishes - next to the restaurant, where the employees have homes.

"We want to reconcile work and personal life," he maintains.

-To finish, what else is on your plates?

Technique, feeling, tradition, raw material, creativity, thought...

-There is a bit of everything, perhaps, sensitivity.

I don't like to manipulate the product a lot and I usually use two or three ingredients.

Intelligence is in removing things, of course you have to know what to remove.

Orobianco Restaurant.

Colina del Sol urbanization, 49-A (Calpe).

Reservations on their website.

Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

: 120 euros (11 steps), 85 euros (7 steps) and 60 euros (5 steps);

all with the option of wine harmonies.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

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