September 12, 2022
This is the first time I meet 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 o’clock, 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 see it; now there’s no time to talk.
I order “Our Bread Basket,” a selection of fresh baked goods accompanied by lightly smoked Malga butter. Wrapped in the scent of warm bread, I think about the adventure of Chiara and her three partners. Chiara moves with Marzia to Venice to study art history, but realizes her true art is cooking. This is how her career in the restaurant world begins, which takes her to San Vincenzo, Tuscany, where she meets Roberto, a skilled mixologist and wine enthusiast. Meanwhile, in Venice, Marzia meets Luca, also a chef. Chiara, Roberto, Marzia, and Luca. A passion for art, a calling for hospitality, on one side Lecco, on the other Venice. How will this story end?
The “Vitellozzo tonnato” arrives: veal carpaccio, tuna sauce, Torchio’s Giardiniera, mustard seeds, valerian. Brushstrokes of flavors, aromas, and colors so familiar yet so unknown. “These dishes are children of our story and express our culinary project: to enhance Lombard products and producers who have bet on the territory with a contemporary interpretation and influences 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 place, and we opened it there. After some years abroad, we returned to Italy. It was supposed to be a break, then 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 downtown: should we take it and do something with it?’ We said ‘why not?’ and we started.”
It’s time for the “Cremolio,” the highlight of my tasting. Roberto serves it to me, a great enthusiast and fine connoisseur of green gold. 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 Michelin-starred kitchen, as soon as he heard about the project through social media, even before the place opened, he brought us his CV. Then there are Michele and Silvia, who today is dancing at the Jova Beach Party in Viareggio.” They were dancing too, Francesco and Michele. They are tired but happy. And in these times of Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, that’s no small thing. “The guys chose us for the values behind the project. They are very aware and happy to be part of a team that, besides doing beautiful and good things, believes in the same values. We try to create a positive atmosphere and give them the best quality of life possible. They are very skilled and very close-knit, and this allows me to focus on selecting producers, to whom we have also dedicated a storytelling project, Gustorie. It’s work that requires time and patience but gives great satisfaction. For example, we discovered a very small producer of pure Verdese, an indigenous grape variety from the upper Lake Como area. An engineer who left everything to follow his passion for wine, working a difficult vine in extreme conditions. If this isn’t heroic viticulture... Or a small fisherman on the upper lake who fishes respecting the ecosystem. We care a lot about the lake; we joined the association Gente di lago e di fiume, born from the idea of Michelin-starred chef Marco Sacco, to build something that preserves the lake and river ecosystem and enhances its products.
“Have you ever eaten lake caciucco, right?” asks Roberto, who is from Livorno and knows caciucco. No. “Bad, because it’s amazing, I wouldn’t have believed it either. Chiara makes it with lake fish. We also try to promote lesser-known and often snubbed species like catfish and carp. We even tried working with killer shrimp: they’re tasty, and catching them helps solve a problem because they risk disrupting the ecosystem.”
“We started from Lecco and came back here after a long journey, which isn’t over. We’d like to go abroad again,” Chiara tells me as she says goodbye. Maybe this is the secret of our project: the heart in the lake and the gaze fixed on the world.” Knowing how to navigate distant and rough waters isn’t enough to achieve something great, I think as I return to the city through the gentle hills of Brianza. Yes, the real secret is having the courage to pause your journey for a moment to find yourself and rediscover yourself inside. To find your lake and rediscover your center. Before lifting the anchor and continuing the journey.
