Architect Pier Maria Giordani… in the kitchen

2017-07-26 Architect Pier Maria Giordani is CEO at Recs Architects, the studio he founded in 2011, with offices in Parma, Milan, Fortaleza and Dubai.
In 2012 Recs Architects provided consulting services to WDCE Company of Beijing in redesigning of the city of Boutou, in southern Mongolia. In 2013 the studio headed a team in the international competition for Helsinki National Library and placed first in the Best Upper Class category.
In 2014 his studio designed the world’s first Social Smart City in Croatà, Brazil, currently under construction, presented by Giordani in July 2015 at Expo in Milan. And in 2016 the first Smart Square in Italy was designed and built in Turin: Piazza Risorgimento.
His recent projects include the new “I Du Matt” restaurant in Parma, underlining the city’s famous gastronomic tradition with an international concept and discrete but important use of greenery: trees and green walls inside and an urban garden facing the restaurant, where vegetables, medicinal plants and spices are grown.
What do you think when entering your kitchen, Pier?
“Ah, how I wish I had time to cook!!”
What dish best represents your life, and why?
“A dish tied up with memories of my hometown and my family: tortelli stuffed with green vegetables. My grandmother taught my mother to make them: the same recipe, the same flavour, over forty years. When I go back and have tortelli, I really know I am at home with my loved ones again. Food has the power to bring back lost memories through flavour.”
What wine gets your heart beating?
“I don’t know a lot about wine, but I have friends who do, and they always give me advice; lately I’ve been sampling all the varieties of Syrah”.
What is the top in the kitchen, according to you?
“The cook is the top in the kitchen. The king in that realm. It’s truly a spectacle to see the cook at work, creating dishes.”
What is the ingredient you can’t do without?
“I think spices and flavourings are very important.”
What is the funniest item in your kitchen?
“This may sound ordinary, but it’s a Stark juicer.”
When was the last time you had a really good meal?
“I had a great meal at “Roberto’s” in Dubai, at an Italian restaurant where they use only top quality ingredients, and in Parma, at “Du Matt”, the top when it comes to the traditional cuisine of Parma.”
Which recipe do you do best?
“I’m known for my version of roastbeef made with horse meat.”
Which traits do you admire in a chef?
“A chef must know all about food and its qualities. It may sound superfluous, but not everyone knows all the details about food. In my opinion, it makes all the difference, especially when it is the cook that does the shopping!”
What’s the meaning of food in your experience?
“Food is one of the four great pleasures of life.”
And as the ancient Chinese proverb says, nobody really knows what the other three are!… ”

Mariagrazia Villa