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Young and Creative, the new Leaders of food and wine: Marco Anselmi.

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Mark Anselmi

The one of Mark Anselmi, born in the Marche region in 1991, is a story of obstacles overcome and exciting challenges. Today he is the chef of Osmo Kitchen, new sign of the Florentine square, hosted in the rooms of the Floren Luxury Hotel. 

With a proposal that is rooted in technical solidity, dishes that do not follow already beaten paths and strong international references, Anselmi is one of the most interesting realities in the city. We went to get to know him better. 

Hi Marco, like any story worth its salt, I would start from the beginning. What pushed you to get in touch with this world and when did you understand that your future could be in a white double-breasted suit?  

I approached this world as a child, helping my grandmother prepare fresh pasta, a tradition that I brought with me into the kitchen. I then followed in my sister's footsteps by enrolling in the hotel management institute in Senigallia, one of the best in the Marche. 

Mark Anselmi

There I had important opportunities, such as an internship in Granada, and, subsequently, an experience in America. Back in Italy I worked at Ancona Passage before following my desire to go abroad, moving to Lisbon on a one-way ticket and ending up working with the chef Chakall. However, my adventure was interrupted by Crohn's disease, a challenge that influenced my path but never stopped me. 

And after your return to Italy?  

Once I recovered I landed at the court of Uliassi and he himself sent me to Barcelona from Martin Berasategui, where I started as an intern, and then accepted the restaurant's offer Oria. Even in that situation my illness made itself felt and I had to undergo emergency surgery. At 26, after 10 years of work, my doctor told me that I had to choose whether to continue with this lifestyle or live. 

So after another 5 months in Spain I returned to Italy with the idea of looking for something more peaceful and to launch myself into the world of bread making. I moved to Florence precisely to look for an interesting “bread” reality with little success, and it was there that I met Beatrice Segoni, chef of Konnubio, of which I became the right-hand man. We worked shoulder to shoulder for 6 years, and in 2020 she decided to leave the reins to me when she left for Dubai. Recognitions arrived from the major guides, from Michelin at Gambero Rosso but, like all things, that experience also had a beginning and an end; and always under the same ownership there was this project, Osmo Cucina, which I have supported from the beginning. 

The Floren Luxury Hotel and Osmo Cucina. 

Marco Anselmi osmo kitchen

His presence did not go unnoticed by the Florentines, because in that stretch of Via Panzani, along the road that goes from the station Santa Maria Novella door to the Cathedral, until a few years ago there was the historic Bonciani Hotel. Now the building is regaining its hospitality function, with the birth of thehotel in 5 stars Floren Luxury Hotel– 5 star luxury boutique hotel, born from the complete renovation of the historic Pitti Broccardi Palace-, and enriches it with the addition of a structured gastronomic proposal with the opening of the Osmo Cucina restaurant. The choice of the name is obviously not a coincidence, in Greek it means “smell”, “perfume”, thus anticipating one of the characteristics of the dishes of Anselmi's brigade. In the dining room Osmo Kitchen is accessed through the hotel reception or along the designer ice cream shop pop-up Badianthe. With its 35 seats in a single room, the restaurant is dominated by the color green, punctuated on the walls by plants, books and pieces of artistic craftsmanship. Another wall is occupied by the cocktail bar, entrusted to Carmine Julian, while the service is taken care of by food & beverage manager Domenico Napolitano, another well-known name on the Florentine scene.

Can you tell us about your early days at Osmo Cucina and the work you did to give it your stamp?

Consider that there was a two-year renovation, a planning of the kitchen from scratch, creating it just in my image and likeness – he laughs. 

The project Osmo Kitchen It comes from the name, which comes from the Greek and means perfume. For me, without perfume, food is nothing, and so from here Osmo Cucina, the scent of cooking. I strongly believe in substantial cuisine, yes very cosmopolitan, but that touches the whole peninsula trying to enhance what mother nature offers and for this reason the menu changes every three months.

Mark Anselmi
Linguine Juice

More than my footprint, Osmo is the result of a team that moves together and listens to each member. We started from the city that hosts us, and therefore from Florence, with its load of tourists, for this reason the offer is very varied. For lunch we opted for a light lunch, with international proposals yes, but made to perfection. For dinner instead the proposal is more focused on the peninsula as preparations while delivering foreign flavors to our guests. In short, territorial with international incursions, like my brigade. That of Osmo is a kitchen of exchange, of give and take with all the guys who have worked with me and who will continue to work.

The proposal

The one of Marco for Osmo Cucina is an offer that makes technique its strong point. Particular attention is paid to the processing of vegetables enhanced in the tasting path called Herbivore that opens with a glazed cauliflower steak, fennel with mascarpone, caramelized caper and black garlic. Try the charcoal-grilled pumpkin seitan with spicy date chutney, chestnuts and sprout salad. 

Mark Anselmi
Tempeh and beans

The strong point of his cuisine is rooted in his family tradition: fresh pasta. Among the first courses we find the most interesting dishes such as the double plin, a black one with cocoa and a classic one with 30 yolks, with sweet pumpkin, chicory, whey and salty amaretto; or the button with liquid fish broth - a typical preparation from Ancona made with the use of 14 different fish - seasoned with octopus water, raw crustacean and tamarind. 

In the second and last tasting menu we find what is establishing itself as the chef's signature: linguine with cacciatore jus, smoked pepper, creamy liver and rosemary oil; not to be missed. 

Mark Anselmi
Pasta and mussels

How is the relationship with Carmine Iuliano's bar proposal? How did your idea for Pairing come about? 

I have known Carmine from Osmo Kitchena, and right from the start we found ourselves on the same wavelength not only on a professional level but also and above all on a human level, he is really good. In his ideas I find many of my beliefs that he however pushes on the cocktail side. What I like most between us is that there is a lot of comparison, made of shared ideas, opinions and advice given by the experiences we have matured before meeting each other. 

A few months ago we started hosting, twice a month, a bartender from the city. Both the host and Carmine propose two signatures each and we in the kitchen have fun creating the combinations that we think are most suitable. A project strongly desired to open the doors of our hotel not only to our guests but above all to the Florentines; a public still reluctant to hotel life. 

Mark Anselmi

What advice would you give to those who dream of entering this world? And what was the most precious for you? 

The most valuable advice I received from Andrea Ribaldone, when I worked with him before starting my journey with Uliassi, only 10 days but which I always remember with great pleasure. 

He told me to listen more, not to try to justify something that didn't go well. Is there a problem? Look for a solution, not a justification. To boil it down to two words? Problem Solving, no point in pointing fingers. We are human beings, it's normal to make mistakes. To those who dream of entering this world, I say to be patient, not to believe that you are ready right away, and not to give in to the rottenness that is in this world.

When you leave school you are not ready, you have to be patient, the job is hard and no one can be ready. This is a difficult job, made of sacrifice and often hidden dangers, but the only solution to survive is to make sure that the job grows inside you every day.

Last question, let's say the world ended tomorrow. Save a spirit and a cocktail recipe for future generations.

Madonna, what a responsibility, – he laughs – I save the whiskey sure and as a cocktail a very sweet whisky sour, alternatively a Milan Turin, so we save two more products and cheat the system – he laughs. 

 

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Antonio Galdi

Antonio Galdi, born in 00, graduated in 2022 in Mediterranean gastronomic sciences at the University of Naples Federico II. He began working as an assistant chef in various hotels and restaurants but after a master's degree in food and wine criticism, he began publishing his first articles. He loves pop culture related to cinema, music and Italian literature.