ABOUT ME
My name is Francesco Nicolai.
I am an Italian Chef, born in Venice.
My passion for cooking began when I was little, helping my grandmother Giuseppina roll out the fresh pasta for sunday lunch.
In the ten years of my career I’ve worked in some of the most iconic restaurants of the Italian North-East, like the renowned “Trattoria alla Bissa” and the Michelin star-winning “El coq* ” and “Damini Macelleria e Affini* ”.
Bread-making is another of my interest, having studied the best sourdough and natural leavening techniques at the “Università della Pizza Molino Quaglia” in Padova.
My unsuppressable curiosity also led me to travel extensively in South Italy, Central America, India and Europe, broadening my understanding of different cultures and culinary traditions.
I have now chosen Belgrade as my home.
PHILOSOPHY
My cooking tells my story.
It speaks of my roots, my passions, my travels, but the starting point is always the ingredient.
All of my work and study are devoted to bringing out the ingredients’ qualities and flavours.
Whether it’s seafood, meat, vegetables or flours, it’s always masterfully worked on to develop simple, balanced, straightforward dishes.
Contemporary food, made respecting its tradition.
SERVICE
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Consulting
As a consultant, I put my ten years of experience in the hospitality and catering business at your service, wether you need to innovate your menus, or optimize your resource management, production and sales strategies.
If you’re planning to launch a new project, I’m available to follow it’s creation in all of its aspects, from setting up and organizing a lab, to selecting personnel and suppliers.