Chef Mimmo De Filippo: from lifestyle to profession (part I)

2017-03-24 A vegan restaurant in Parma, a city famous for its ham? Cosimo De Filippo, better known as Mimmo, and his wife Antonella Fusco have been running one of Parma’s most successful restaurants for more than twenty years.
L’“Apriti Sesamo”, winner of the 2012 BravoBio prize, offers both table service and home delivery of its cuisine made fresh every day exclusively from certified organic ingredients, offering a vast selection (the menu changes every day) of nutritionally balanced, flavourful dishes.
Mimmo works in the kitchen, while Antonella welcomes diners in the restaurant. She’s there at lunch and dinner, passionately and knowledgeably explaining the bioenergetic features of the dishes on the menu, in terms of both ingredients and cooking techniques.
How did you become interested in cooking, Mimmo?
“I was an accountant before I became a cook. I didn’t attend cooking school, I learned from books and experience. I came to love cooking at the age of 33, when I discovered the macrobiotic diet, or rather, lifestyle. Or perhaps it came back to me: I used to love watching my mother cook when I was a little boy.”
Has it been a problem for you, not having specific training in cooking?
“I wish I had decided to be a cook when I was a boy, because I would have had an opportunity to get experience working abroad, perhaps in a country where there are a lot of vegans. I would have been able to put myself on the line and compare notes with other chefs. I’m like a sponge: I always try to learn from what my colleagues are doing, I always taste other people’s recipes, because if I like them, I can change them to suit my personality.”
How did you first discover the macrobiotic lifestyle?
“Thanks to my wife Antonella and her health issues. We approached this curative form of cooking together. And as I got back from work before her in those days, I would start cooking dinner for both of us. At first the results were not particularly appetising, but as time passed, I started to use my imagination more, and the dishes I was cooking became better and better. And then I realised I’d rather cook than go to the office.”
And so, on July 2 1996 you decided to open “Apriti Sesamo”.
“At that time there were no macrobiotic restaurants in Parma, and in fact there still aren’t any. The first year I panicked: cooking in a restaurant is different from cooking at home. Luckily, I was able to work with people who had already managed restaurants in other Italian cities. This allowed me to learn the basic techniques and the things I needed to know to cook as a professional.”

Mariagrazia Villa

Photos: Edoardo Fornaciari