Philosophy
Our dishes are based on three principles: Mediterranean character, absolute quality in raw materials and modernity.
For us TO INNOVATE in the kitchen is very important but we want to do it keeping an identity…and it is because of this that we want to begin from the land... in a larger sense... that is not only the vegetable garden but is a combination of values such as customs, gastronomical traditions, products taken from the land and from its artisans... without artisans that make quality we would not have interesting products created from the territory.
Our menu begins with phrases by Eduardo De Filippo: "Only after having studied, thorougly analyzed and respected tradition, we have the right to put it aside, always with the knowledge that we are in debt towards it, at least, after having cleared our minds. Naturally, if we remain tied to the past, life that goes on becomes life that stops but, if we use tradition as a springboard it is obvious that we shall jump higher."
We are, and we want to be, extremely open to all that is "new" when it comes to new techniques and technology as well as products. Looking back in the past we realized that "innovations" become successful if they are tied to the land (the larger sense one). If we think about pasta and tomatoes, for example, today they are a part of a consolidated Italian tradition, but back then, when they were first introduced, they were very new products.
The tomato was unknown until the discovery of America (1492) and it was by chance that it was used in the kitchen. Durum wheat pasta has controversial origins, it's beginnings are a mystery. Arabs introduced us to alittrya, "vermicello", a small worm-like spaghetti made by hand, obtained by using dried durum wheat, a precious food source for nomadic people. But the golden age for pasta production begins in the XIX century: the first marks of this product are Sicilian, but it is Naples that passionately produces it, making it their prime item.
Pasta and tomatoes are an example that "new" becomes "tradition" if it transforms into excellency on the territory (and therefore on the land, in a larger sense). If innovating is fundamental... land (in a larger sense) is the cradle where innovation is developed and nourished until it is turned into a tradition.
We want to create dishes that even if your eyes are closed... you know that you are in front of Capri...
Alfonso Iaccarino
