Welcome to our new series: CHEF IN RESIDENCE, where we sit down the most talented chefs around the world. At Hôtel Weekend, we strongly believe that we can travel through senses, and taste is one of them, In this series, we explore the world’s different cuisines: from the best street food, farm-to-table cuisine to fine dining. Here. we will share recipes that will transport you to Italy, India, Mexico and around the world. Join us as we take a peek inside the kitchens, markets and tables of our Chefs in Residence.

We admire people who inspire us, someone who radiates peace and harmony, express themselves through the senses, who evoke the deepest feelings. Through food, Giorgia invites us to discover a way of living, tranquil, paused, slow, enjoying the smallest details of life. Read below to discover more about Giorgia and her journey while running the kitchen at Masseria Moroseta in Puglia.

PHOTOGRAPHY Letizia Cigliutti

HW – Please tell us about yourself. What is your background? How did your relationship with food start?

I grew up in a family where learning how to express yourself was really important. My parents were not only into rules and good manners, but their educational program was more about giving us the possibility to explore the potential of our minds and creativity.

Food always played a central role in my life. I still remember days spent observing, eating, and cooking with my grandmother in the kitchen, I was also incredibly fascinated by my mom’s personal library of classic cookbooks and food magazines - I used to spend hours staring at pictures of beautifully plated dishes.

Each important occasion was strongly linked to a specific kind of meal, it was a moment to stay together as a family and to celebrate through this kind of ritual.

 HW - How did you end up cooking at Masseria Moroseta?

I received the proposal to run Moroseta’s kitchen for two months in 2017 via email, while I was traveling through India. It was a moment in which I was quite tired of working for other people, the need to develop my own project was getting stronger and stronger. So, the job opportunity arrived really at the right moment, I immediately thought it was some kind of “sign from the universe”, I accepted without thinking too much about it.

 I found the perfect environment for what I wanted to do, I was given complete freedom for menus and products, I could source my own ingredients visiting farmers in the countryside nearby, I could change and work on something new whenever I wanted to.

Staying apart from my own family and comfort zone helped me to come back to myself more honestly, leaving behind insecurities and old fears. I had the possibility to understand what I really wanted, which were my goals and important things to achieve, personally and as a chef. 

HW- What was the process behind the creation of the menu? How were you inspired by your surroundings to create these menus?

I don’t have a precise method/scheme to follow. Every time it’s different. I get my ideas and inspiration everywhere. I love traveling, every time I come back from a new journey, I have thousands of notes of all the things I tasted, and I want to try making.

Recently I'm really into my vegetable garden, I spend as much time as I can, I love observing the plants grow, seeing how the season changes, and how the flavor develops week after week. I find it incredibly stimulating. When you are witnessing the magic of nature, you put all yourself into using those products in the best way possible, from root to skin.

HW- Tell us about your new e-book, what’s inside?

It’s a small and simple project: 10 dessert recipes, 43 photos, 92 pages.

The idea was born in June 2020 during the BLM movement to do something good and raise some money to support 3 different non-profit organizations involved in direct action against systemic racism across the world and fight for change. It took me more than I expected, but here we are: )

HW- What dishes inspire you to travel? 

I’m curious about everything, I get incredibly excited about discovering new dishes, traditions, products, and techniques. At the moment, I dream of discovering Mexican food, I have never been to Mexico, and I just keep on seeing and hearing things that seem absolutely incredible.

HW – Have you ever traveled far away from home just for the food? where?

I do it all the time, basically, all my trips are about food. I always do attentive research about the best restaurants, markets, street food, traditions, and products. I normally try to get in touch with someone locals that can give me some insider’s tips. 

I perfectly remember my first trip to Japan, it was an absolute epiphany everything was new, different from all I had ever tasted, bursting with flavor and at the same time incredibly simple. 

HW – A city, or chef/restaurant, on your Wishlist for a culinary escape? A destination on your bucket list?

 I would like to go back to Copenhagen where I have many friends and fellow colleagues, every time I visit, I have unforgettable culinary experiences. Not only fancy and Michelin-star restaurants but also in simple lunch spots, bakeries (or at friends' house).

As I said before, Mexico City is on my top five wishlists. I dream of spending a couple of months visiting the whole country, from Mexico City to the more remote countryside places, wild beaches, markets, farmhouses, etc.

HW – You have a day off, what are you doing? Where can we find you?

 When it’s summertime I spend all my days off at the beach, that’s the really good side of living by the sea. We have incredible beaches just a few minutes from Moroseta and we also recently just bought an amazing “gozzo”, an old-fashioned wood motorboat - I’m so looking forward to spending days just swimming, sleeping in the sun and eating spaghetti.

HW – When are you at your happiest?

I love learning new things, so whenever I have the possibility to learn, discover and research, I’m the happiest. My latest discoveries are video making, textile design, and pottery - I find it extremely important to take some time and learn something new that might have nothing to do with my profession, it gives me new energy, ideas and points of view.

Another activity I adore doing that calms me down and makes me super happy, (easier and more immediate than learning how to make pottery from scratch), is having friends at home and organizing a super chilled dinner, I love relaxed evenings with food to share, lots of wine and good music.

 HW – What are your favorite destinations? How do these places influence your work?

 I always go back to:

LONDON, to visit my best friends, to eat a welsh rarebit at St.John’s, to spend a day visiting the Tate, to have an unforgettable dinner at Maos’. Here is where I discovered the gastropub dimension that I absolutely love, like Rochelle Canteen, St John and the more recent Lyle’s. I also did really formative work experiences and collaborations.

FUERTEVENTURA, to enjoy the pure wilderness of nothing but waves, desert and wind. Nature is so incredible, but there is not much about food and so every time I visit I love to find new solutions to cook local fish and the few vegetables available. The essence of simplicity.

 COPENHAGEN, to see and taste new things, to bike all day long around the city, to see beloved friends and colleagues, to visit my very favorite Louisiana Museum.

The first time in Copenhagen was a true gastronomic epiphany, I still clearly remember the taste of pickled rosebuds, lingonberries and danish scallops. I worked for Relae restaurant and it was a great experience, not only for the food we worked on but for the admirable teamwork, research of ingredients and ethic.

TOKYO, to dive into another culture, dimension and language that is far away from where I come from but talks incredibly clearly to my inner self. My first trip to Japan in 2011 totally changed my mind about all I knew and thought to know about food, esthetic and harmony in general – I still see the marks of that trip in my daily life.

HW – Can you describe your work in 5 senses? How does it look like, smell like, feel like, sound like, taste like?

 It looks like a bunch of wildflowers, smells like toasted fig leaves, feels like an unexpected parcel with a gift from a friend, sounds like gentle waves, and tastes like a slice of warm tarte Tatin.

HW – What do you feel upon entering the Hôtel Weekend universe?

I truly love and admire what you created, such an honest and yet refined project. I feel incredibly close to all your values and esthetic, I truly think that we speak the same language.

HW – What does slow living mean to you?

 My way to interpret slow living is following the rhythms of nature. I find a lot of peace in the simplest things, like going to bed early and waking up when the sun rises, listing to nature, observing light, and giving attention to the smallest details that surround us.

HW – How do you slow down?

My mindful activities are simple home cooking (of course), taking care of my vegetable garden, swimming in the sea, reading novels.

HW – You can’t travel without...

My notebook. As much as I love technology, I still prefer the feeling of real paper. I take notes, write addresses, impressions, ideas, dreams. I like to paste postcards, train tickets and polaroids, like an old-school spontaneous travel diary to bring home.