Always in ferment, always active in conceiving new ideas.
Piedmontese by birth, Aosta Valley at heart, we have been writing of Paolo Griffa since he was a minor and today we meet him in Aosta, in his dream which became reality in 2022, in less than 6 months, thanks to a municipal tender and a workers’ community who come together for an out of the ordinary project. Positioned on the central Emile Chanoux square, Paolo Griffa al Caffe Nazionale is spread over over 600 m2 and has a haute cuisine restaurant divided into three rooms, including a chapel from the 1300s, a pastry shop and a cocktail bar complete with terraces open every day, pastry and kitchen workshops that can be visited, as well as a cellar dedicated to aging with over 1,000 labels and 3,000 bottles, as well as a private room currently being set up above the Roman forum.
A multifaceted world shaped in every centimeter by Paolo, as we described in the article published in issue no. 343 of “Pasticceria Internazionale”, shortly after the inauguration.
Stimulating collaborations and new projects
We find him again this summer, satisfied with the feedback he receives from the pastry shop and restaurant. “The demand for viennoiserie is notable: during the week we sell 350 brioche, at the weekend up to 600. And then around fifty single portions a day, with peaks of 80/100. Not to mention the increase in orders for personalized cakes: customers act in advance to have an express service.”
A heterogeneous clientele that alternates between the 100 pastry shop seats and the 40 restaurant seats: “We welcome more and more international tourists, sportsmen and mountain lovers, as well as the gourmet public, many of whom are regulars from all over Italy”. A notoriety that also grows thanks to various collaborations, such as the one with the Swiss brand Gerald Charles. As a Friend of the Brand, on the occasion of the launch of two watches, Paolo conceived a tarte au chocolat, as well as watch-shaped chocolates (10 g each, in hazelnut, pistachio, raspberry, and dark chocolate versions) with personalized boxes, celebrating the watch called Chocolat, with a strap that smells of vanilla,
“We also collaborate with Land Rover Italia and with Hilde Soliani Profumi e Colonie – continues Griffa -, as well as participating in events and ‘twinnings’ with colleagues and on occasions such as the Salone del Mobile in Milan”. The chef Griffa has been connected to Skyway Monte Bianco for years and, this summer, the idea of a high-altitude “croissant lab” was born, where you can find a line of viennoiserie dedicated to the different points, from the start at the foot of Courmayeur, to 2173 meters of the Pavillon, but also at 3466 meters of Punta Helbronner with the highest pastry shop in Europe.
Multiple activities that all come together in the orchestration of a team of 27 people, including pastry shop, kitchen and bar, in the constant search for “interesting and empathetic figures, as it is difficult to find motivated collaborators. Ours is a good team, enriched by passionate interns, also coming from abroad”. In the pastry shop, his wife Titti Traina takes care of all the production with Mattia Esposito; also there are Luca Zandrino sous chef in the kitchen, Federica Tomasini maitre, Alessandro Mantovani sommelier and Antonio Stanici responsible for the bar service. While “I manage the accounting and administrative part, I follow the organization of events, more and more, between Geneva, Milan, Venice… And then I solve problems: since I on my own, I miss the creative part, but I make time for it and luckily I don’t suffer from tiredness. After all, I am my brand and the business is still too small to delegate. I know it’s madness, but I love doing it, taking care of all the delicate aspects, considering that the management aspect is crucial: in the second year of opening we are very satisfied, but the expenses and investments are considerable, as is the five-year mortgage” . A total commitment for a structure open all year round, with two days of closure per week for the restaurant and one for the pastry bar.
Multiple activities that all come together in the orchestration of a team of 27 people, including pastry shop, kitchen and bar, in the constant search for “interesting and empathetic figures, as it is difficult to find motivated collaborators. Ours is a good team, enriched by passionate interns, also coming from abroad”. In the pastry shop, his wife Titti Traina takes care of all the production with Mattia Esposito; also there are Luca Zandrino sous chef in the kitchen, Federica Tomasini maitre, Alessandro Mantovani sommelier and Antonio Stanici responsible for the bar service. While “I manage the accounting and administrative part, I follow the organization of events, more and more, between Geneva, Milan, Venice… And then I solve problems: since I on my own, I miss the creative part, but I make time for it and luckily I don’t suffer from tiredness. After all, I am my brand and the business is still too small to delegate. I know it’s madness, but I love doing it, taking care of all the delicate aspects, considering that the management aspect is crucial: in the second year of opening we are very satisfied, but the expenses and investments are considerable, as is the five-year mortgage” . A total commitment for a structure open all year round, with two days of closure per week for the restaurant and one for the pastry bar.
Furthermore, Paolo Griffa at Caffè Nazionale is the first haute cuisine restaurant in Italy to use a widespread supervision and monitoring system for all equipment. Starting from an entire server room, 5 panels are in intercommunication with each other and interface with each of the machines in the room via their own network cable, which reaches every single socket to analyze and control their operation 24 hours a day, every day of the year. This systematic control system for monitoring and signaling cuts in consumption peaks is often used in retail and large-scale distribution, but it is the first time that a fine dining restaurant has implemented it systematically. The technology guarantees the reduction of the environmental impact of the project, to monitor consumption and energy and thermal flows, with the aim of reducing energy waste and rationalizing consumption.
“Our strength – Paolo states with conviction – is unity, and with Titti we know how to be interchangeable”. Together, the two are building their future, with the desire to also take back their spaces, with the awareness of “having always been lucky enough to be able to choose”.
The esprit of the summer menu
The stylistic signature that characterizes Griffa emerges from year to year, in a close dialogue between savory and plated desserts, in the need to tell his personality and that of his world, with nature as the protagonist, between colors and concepts, as well as art and architecture. In fact, there are two themes on the summer menu, Art and Nature, in which each course tells a story of innovation and taste.
Here are some dishes.
This is Art? venison tartare served as a blank canvas with brushes of smoked potatoes and colors of natural sauces. An interactive experience where each diner creates their own work of art.
Murakami quiche with vegetable petals, filled with eggs, leeks and ham, served on a layer of ham broth and tomato oil. Accompanied by a 3D shortcrust pastry flower with petal crackers.
Escher open ravioli with a colorful geometric pattern, inspired by Escher’s works, on a courtyard ragù shaded with Vermouth.
Snails and snails pasta filled with snail ragout, creamed with Egyptian mallow and served with mentholated herbs such as catmint, mint glacialis and mint flowers.
Vertical vegetable minestrone, a symphony of vegetables in multiple textures and cooking methods, with cannellini cream and vegetable broth. Carrots cooked in fennel water, grilled courgettes, baked onions and raw peas.
Trout and sorrel crêpe soufflé filled with sorrel and salmon trout from Lake Morgex. Served with bone sauce, collagen and trout roe, flavored with fresh sorrel.
Looking for new shapes of gelato
Always drawing inspiration from art and nature for plated desserts in the two culinary paths of the same name, and making it a cornerstone in pastry making, Paolo Griffa continues his exploration also in the world of gelato.
Soft is the season novelty, developed in collaboration with Carpigiani, creamed at the moment of service, a soft that lends itself to the traditional cup, to pairing with fruit, in the affogato version with specialty coffee, but also on the go as a filling some croissants. Vanilla cream flavour, every week accompanied by another flavour, such as hazelnut, chocolate or pistachio.
And season gelato is also in desserts. Arte refers to Dropping a Han Dynasty urn by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. A jar of caramelized chocolate arrives at the table and is broken in front of the customer, who tastes it in pieces with the iconic Chinese preparations inside: Artemide rice ice cream, caramel toffee with black rice vinegar, puffed rice with honey, sponge with peanuts and dried apricots rehydrated with ginger water. How the artist destroyed an ancient Ming vase as a sign of opposition to the single thought of the post-communist and ultra-capitalist government of Beijing.
Flower Power is the immersive dessert in the flower shape. “For tasting you need to break each petal and savor the different combinations,” explains the chef. At the base, an elderflower cheesecake, on which lies a pastry of just 2 mm (but resistant), burnished and with a caramelised flavour; each petal welcomes a quenelle of fresh processed fruit and a sorbet of the same fruit, combined with flowers and herbs. We start with strawberry, with elderflower and meadowsweet, and then cherry, peach and apricot as the ripeness varies.
In the winter menu
Bergamot, pears and sage hazelnut cake and lemon curd with bergamot, black lemon, pears, Aosta Valley tiles with hazelnuts, sorbet made with canary (lemon and sage herbal tea). Fresh and light, it is served with tapioca and chamomile sauce.
Al_pino unusual dessert that combines the scent of pine and evokes, in its shape, the section of a trunk. The bark is a meringue with cocoa and Lapsang tea; inside a Tonka bean biscuit soaked in fir resin. To complete, larch mousse and chestnut honey Bavarois. As a cover, a small bonfire made with pine marshmallows, to be toasted at the table like on a camping trip.
Montblanc soufflé a classic Montebianco with chestnut mixture and lemon thyme sugar on the outside. A black truffle crème anglaise is poured into the room and a quenelle of Venezuelan chocolate ice cream is placed.
Photo Paolo Picciotto