Chef Mimmo De Filippo: what he serves in his restaurant (part II)

2017-03-27 Mimmo De Filippo and his wife Antonella Fusco are champions of the veggie diet in a city famous for its animal products. Their organic restaurant, “Apriti Sesamo”, is located in Parma, where the traditional cuisine is all about ham and cheese!
But their restaurant has been increasingly successful. And now, at a time when more and more people are approaching the vegetarian and vegan philosophy for ethical, spiritual and health reasons, it has become an interesting landmark on the city’s restaurant scene.
Mimmo, you opened “Apriti Sesamo” in 1996 to serve macrobiotic cuisine.
“This type of cooking tends not to use meat, milk, dairy products and cheeses, but there is a little bit of fish in it. Over the years, in response to our customers’ preferences, we decided to eliminate fish from the menu and offer an increasingly vegan menu, though we do occasionally offer dishes containing sheep’s milk ricotta cheese and eggs at lunch time. These are the only two products of animal origin that we still use; all our other dishes are now vegan. We sometimes offer a complete gluten-free dinner menu for celiacs, and even at lunch time, there are plenty of gluten-free choices.”
The menu in your restaurant is different every day.
“Yes, we offer a choice of three first courses, three main courses, four side dishes and three or four desserts, all vegan, at lunch time. Our desserts are also made without sugar, using only natural sweeteners such as rice, corn or wheat malt, maple syrup and concentrated apple juice. They are often made from gluten-free flours such as millet or buckwheat, suitable for celiacs. In the evening we offer a complete dinner menu including an appetiser, two first courses, one main course, two side dishes and a dessert.”
Is there a historic dish by another chef that particularly strikes you? And why?
“Once Antonella and I went to eat at Pietro Leemann’s vegetarian restaurant in Milan, "Joia". We were really struck by the way he presented his dishes: they were like works of art!.”
What is the atmosphere like in your restaurant?
“It’s a home-like atmosphere. The furniture is warm and cosy. There’s plenty of orange and yellow, colours with an energy that aids digestion and improves mood. It’s not all white like a pizza parlour, or all black like a trendy bar.”
What the concept behind your cuisine?
“A cuisine that offers seasonal ingredients and ways of cooking them. Of course it’s now possible to eat strawberries in December, but I believe it is only right, for our bodies, to eat appropriately for the season. Even grains should be chosen to suit the season: in winter we need to eat grains that provide heat, such as oats, millet, or buckwheat, while in summer we need grains that cool us off, such as barley, semi-whole grain rice, couscous... Cooking methods are important too. Raw food may be an excellent philosophy, but we need hot food in winter.”

Mariagrazia Villa

Photos: Edoardo Fornaciari