Roberto Ottini
has been passionate about fires since an early age.
He left his quaint town in Italy to fulfill his dream of cooking in bustling New York
.
However, a trip to
Argentina
changed his life completely.
In love with the warmth of his people,
he decided to stay without imagining that years later he would open his own restaurant in San Telmo
, where today he fuses Italian tradition and good Argentine ingredients with his inherited passion for cooking.
Known for his outstanding participation in television cooking shows, Ottini brings with him a gastronomic proposal that leaves the most demanding palates happy.
He is based on the authenticity of Italian flavors, rescuing his mother's recipes with a touch of innovation and creativity.
But not only their dishes are delicious.
His story is too and is reflected in his creations.
Roberto developed a love for cooking from a young age when
he saw his grandparents investing hours in a dish to feed their loved ones.
The story of Roberto Ottini
Roberto was born in Soresina, a small town in northern Italy, famous for the production of Grana Padano cheese.
Even as a child he moved between lit ovens and preparations thanks to his pastry-making grandfather: “My grandfather was a pastry chef of the old guard, when the blast chiller or processors did not exist.
He was a great artist, he made compositions in marzipan.
I will never forget the cake he made me for my twelfth birthday.
It was a little lamb, standing up and the wool had been made with whipped cream, it was impressive,”
the chef excitedly tells
Clarín Gourmet .
But his grandmother also gave him a passion for cooking: “She would put the chicken supreme in milk a day before to prepare the Milanese, not like now when you buy it ready and throw it in the oven,” he remembers.
From her hands came plates of polenta that she stirred over the fire for an hour in a copper pot and the soups that she prepared with vegetables from her garden: “It tasted like vegetables!” Roberto emphasizes with a laugh.
Roberto Ottini with his mother, from whom he inherited his passion for cooking.
He studied three years in a culinary school.
His first professional experience was tough.
As an intern, she had to face shocking situations: “When I entered the kitchen I saw the cook with her feet in a pot full of water and removing her calluses with a pomegranate stone,” says Ottini.
There she had to clean refrigerators that had not been touched for years, clean kilos and kilos of trout, which even took a bracelet that her mother had given her with her name on it.
The years passed and his expertise grew.
He passed through great restaurants in Sardinia
and one day, at the age of 27, the opportunity of a lifetime came for him.
A friend of her sister needed a cook for a new restaurant in New York
: “I sat down with my parents, told them I was leaving for a year and never came back.”
There Roberto started in a restaurant in downtown Manhattan as a kitchen assistant and made the pasta: “After a year and a half of being there, the manager told me that there was an actress among the tables who didn't want to eat alone.
When I sat down with her it was Bette Midler.
I only knew four words in English so she looked her in the eyes,” he recalls with a laugh.
Roberto Ottini was part of the ElGourmet channel.
From there he went to
Cipriani, the legendary Italian restaurant on Fifth Avenue where he met Woody Allen, Silvester Stallone and other international celebrities
: “Unlike the Argentinians, they don't believe it as much, they are more humble people,” he compares.
The owners offered him a trip to Argentina to oversee the opening of a new location
: “I was tired of New York, I lacked human closeness.”
He confesses that Maradona, thanks to the fact that he played in Napoli, was the only thing he knew about the country.
Roberto Ottini in his restaurant in San Telmo.
Photo: Constanza Niscovolos.
He arrived in Argentina in 1997
when Cipriani - which was on Posadas Street in Retiro - was in the opening phase: “
I immediately fell in love with the country.
On the second third day of my arrival they invited me to play ball, I played zero soccer.
We finished working, we bought beer, we crossed Libertador and we spent the whole night playing ball”, that closeness with his group, added to the fact that they invited him to their birthdays and offered him their houses, dazzled Roberto so that he would never leave these lands again. .
His charisma took him to television, in 2003 and 2004 he was part of the cable channel ElGourmet.
He went through the now extinct Utilísima.
He was co-teamer of Maru Botana in America, also in the middle of the pandemic he was part of Como Todo, on NetTV.
His last appearance on TV was in Pasaplatos, the cooking competition hosted by Carina Zampini on El Trece.
“My wife always stressed to me that I had to have a place where people who met me on TV could see me.”
So, when the opportunity to open Girardi arose in April 2023, Roberto took it.
What is it like and what is eaten at Girardi
Mamma's gnocchi Photo: Constanza Niscovolos.
A red façade that stands out against the gray of Defensa Street in San Telmo anticipates the presence of this Italian restaurant.
A divided glass separates the diner from the sidewalk and the living room.
Upon entering, the luminosity provided by a glass ceiling is surprising.
The chalky floors and the beauty of the French bistro-style rattan chairs make up the cozy atmosphere of the small space.
“The challenge was to make Italian cuisine with Argentine products
,” explains Roberto.
The dried pasta offered on the menu is from Italy.
Among the cold cuts, raw ham and mortadella are also from there.
The rest are national and
are managed with the best producers in the country.
Girardi's façade.
Photo: Instagram.
When thinking about the menu, Roberto was inspired by the dishes he ate at home: “
Lasagna,
for example, I remember that every Sunday my mother would order it in a restaurant and we would all eat it together.
Or the
ricotta and spinach ravioli that she made for us every Thursday with butter and sage
.”
He also serves risottos, typical of the Lombardy region where carnaroli rice is produced
- fundamental for this dish - where his hometown belongs.
“My mother made us risotto with osso buco,” she remembers.
He chooses to serve it with butter pappardelle as if it were a stew.
Girardi's pappardelle with osso buco.
Photo: Instagram.
He also serves the gnocchi that he calls “mamma's”
which is a recipe that his mother passed on to him and that is quick to prepare.
“It is a recipe that is ready in four minutes, they look like potatoes but they are not,” he explains.
They are served with gorgonzola, black truffle and sage.
A few months ago this entrepreneur opened a focacceria in front of Girardi
, where he sells focaccia sandwiches and panini on the go.
Girardi.
Defensa 1328, San Telmo.
Tuesday to Saturday from 11.30 a.m. to 0. Sunday from 11.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
Instagram: @girardicucina_