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Sicily’s seashores must harbour a secret spell that continues to produce some of the finest chefs in the world, each with an obsession for a balance of flavours and the finest and freshest ingredients.
The magic continues as Chef Delfino Sanfilippo Chiarello joined the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain’s Primavera restaurant almost three weeks ago as the Chef de Cuisine, fresh from a two-year jaunt in the United Arab Emirates and a lifetime working with food at every stage of preparation.
The Italian chef, who comes from a food-centric family having grown up on a farm in the province of Cortana, distinctly remembers his first time helping in the family kitchen. He said: “I remember, my mother and grandmother were baking. We have this family recipe for a wonderful focaccia. And I remember helping roll the bread.”
At the age of 15, Delfino decided he wanted to make the kitchen his workplace when he got a summer job working at a local restaurant. It would give him an opportunity to travel Italy and the world, exploring humanity through its various stomachs.
He moved up North when he was 21 and two years later, moved to the UK in 2003. He worked at the Ritz London and the Four Seasons while there, before moving to France, where he worked at a Michelin-star French-Japanese fusion restaurant. Almost a year later, he returned to London, where he cooked at Gordon Ramsay’s Maze Grill Mayfair restaurant as a demi chef.
He added: “I was young, so I wanted to get as much experience as possible, in as many restaurants as possible. I like to challenge myself and learn the myriad of unique ways that each of these top notch kitchens operated.”
After having gained nearly 12 years of hands-on experience, the maestro finally decided to formalise his education, getting his National Cookery qualification, spending a year learning how to cook pastries and finishing off with a three- year stint at the University of West London, where he studied Hospitality and Tourism Management, all while holding down multiple part time jobs.
After getting some more hands-on experience in UK’s crème de la crop of cross-culinary kitchens, Chef Delfino decided to wade into the Middle Eastern waters and took up a job in Abu Dhabi with Jumeirah at Etihad Towers.
When comparing the palates in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, he remarked: “With every new market, every new place, I cannot just come in and impose my own taste. For example, back in Italy, people prefer citrusy flavour profiles, while the Middle East likes a spicier profile. Even within the Middle East, patrons in Abu Dhabi like to stick to traditional tastes of whatever cuisine they are having, while in Bahrain, people are much more open to trying fusion and cross-over cuisines. So, for example, an avocado in an Italian kitchen would be utterly rejected there while here, it would intrigue at least a few of the guests.”
At the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, Chef Delfino wants to recreate his grandmother’s weekend family lunches, with shareable dishes, lots of conversation and minimal cellular interruptions. Yet, he also hopes to add a modern twist to every dish and so far, he has found Primavera’s patrons to be much more open-minded about his ‘fusionary’ creations.
He hopes to have his wife, Dagmara, who is currently working in the UK, visit the island as well and introduce her to the Bahraini iteration of the Italian kitchen.
With Chef Delfino, Primavera hopes to create a multi-cultural ambience and Brazilian guitarist, composer, arranger, singer and entertainer Stefano Arcieri will be providing the evening entertainment every night from 7pm to 11pm, except on Sunday. Stefano is noted for his exquisite “Brazilian” acoustics and has toured Europe extensively, performing at Musik Messe in Frankfurt, Germany and Disma Music Show in Rimini, Italy.
In 1996, he started working with Fender US on a brand new programme called “The Guru” and was subsequently honoured as the first Best Fender Guru in the World.
Having worked with some of the best known Italian artists and toured the world for three years with Fred Bongusto as the guitarist of his band, Stefano has a beautiful, deep and mellow voice and will be singing in Italian and English while playing acoustic or electric guitar, percussions, harmonica and mandolin, depending on the mood of the evening. He pays close attention to his set and always keeps refining them to his personal taste, thus giving his performances that little bit more that always makes the difference.
With Brazilian tunes and Italian tastes, this reporter looks forward to relaxing after a long day at the Primavera in the Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain.
