September 12, 2022
It's the first time I've met Chiara Valsecchi, chef of Torchio Moderna Osteria, the restaurant opened in 2020 by four friends — besides her, Roberto, Marzia and Luca — in one of the oldest corners of Lecco. Vicolo Granai is narrow and hidden, it's past two, but the flow of tourists doesn't stop. The waiting list is still long, Marzia tells me. "Twenty years ago Lecco was snubbed. In recent years, things have changed." And you can tell, now there's no time to talk.
I order “Il cesto del nostro pane”, a selection of fresh baked goods accompanied by lightly smoked Malga butter. Wrapped in the scent of warm bread, I think of the adventure of Chiara and her three partners. Chiara moves with Marzia to Venice to study art history, but understands that her true art is cooking. Thus begins her career in the restaurant business, which takes her to San Vincenzo, in Tuscany, where she meets Roberto, a skilled mixologist and lover of the art of wine. Meanwhile, in Venice, Marzia meets Luca, also a chef. Chiara, Roberto, Marzia and Luca. The passion for art, the vocation for catering, on one side Lecco, on the other Venice. How will this story end?
Here comes the “Vitellozzo tonnato”: veal carpaccio, tuna sauce, Giardiniera del Torchio, mustard seeds, valerian. Brushstrokes of flavors, aromas and colors so familiar and yet so unknown. “These dishes are children of our history and express our culinary project: to enhance the products and producers of Lombardy who have bet on the territory with a contemporary interpretation and contaminations deriving from our experiences around the world. One summer Roberto and I went on vacation to the Virgin Islands. We never came back. We dreamed of opening our own restaurant, we opened it there. After a few years abroad we returned to Italy. It was supposed to be a break, Covid arrived and we never left again. One day Marzia called me: “I'm tired of Venice, I want to go back to Lecco. I saw a free space in the center: should we take it and do something with it? We said 'why not?' and we left”.
It's time for the "Cremolio", the highest point of my excursion. Roberto, a great enthusiast and expert in the green gold, serves it to me. A creamy Saothome chocolate and Garda olive oil, Taggiasca olives in syrup with muscovado sugar and vanilla. From up here the view is priceless, the emotions full.
Chiara joins us accompanied by the Medusa trio, as she affectionately calls them. “Francesco is my Sous Chef, after years spent in a starred kitchen, as soon as he heard about the project through social media, even before the restaurant opened, he brought us his CV. Then there are Michele and Silvia, who is dancing today in Viareggio at the Jova Beach Party”. They were dancing too, Francesco and Michele. They are tired, but happy. And in these times of Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, that is no small thing. “The guys chose us for the values that underpin the project. They are very aware and happy to be part of a team that, in addition to doing beautiful and good things, believes in the same values. We try to create a positive climate and give them the best quality of life possible. They are very good and very close-knit and this allows me to focus on the selection of producers to whom we have also dedicated a storytelling project, Gustorie. It is a job that requires time and patience, but gives great satisfaction. For example, we discovered a very small producer of pure Verdese, a native grape variety from the upper Lake Como. An engineer who left everything to follow his passion for wine, works a difficult vine in extreme conditions. If this is not heroic viticulture... Or a small fisherman on the upper lake who fishes while respecting the ecosystem. We care a lot about the lake, we have joined the association Gente di lago e di fiume born from the idea of the starred chef Marco Sacco to build something that preserves the lake and river ecosystem, and enhances its products.
“Have you ever eaten a lake caciucco, right?” asks Roberto, who is originally from Livorno and knows caciucco. No. “Badly, because it is the bomb, I would never have said it either. Chiara prepares it with lake fish. We also try to valorize the lesser-known and more snubbed species such as catfish and carp. We also tried to work with killer shrimp: they are tasty and catching them means helping to solve a problem because they risk altering the ecosystem”.
“We left Lecco and returned here after a long journey, which is not over. We would like to return abroad” Chiara tells me as she says goodbye. Maybe this is the secret of our project: our heart in the lake and our gaze fixed on the world”. Knowing how to navigate distant and rough waters is not enough to achieve something great, I think as I return to the city through the rolling hills of Brianza. Yes, the real secret is having the courage to suspend your journey for a moment to find yourself and rediscover yourself inside. Find your own lake and rediscover your own center. Before freeing the anchor and resuming the journey.
