MAUKA

Named after an endangered Incan root vegetable, Mauka is an ode to the bounty of Cusquenian cuisine and its diverse produce. At the core of Mauka is Pía’s vision; to preserve Peruvian culture, transcending local gastronomy and curating moments by learning and experiencing the true root and origin of Peruvian cuisine, where ingredients, art, and biodiversity meet naturally. With this new project, Pía seeks to get closer to the Cusco region and to utilise the multitude of ingredients with different tones and nuances available in this section of the Peruvian Andes. Together with local farmers and artisans, Pía and her team will continue her culinary legacy, incorporating Cusco’s history and biodiversity into the restaurant’s DNA, with menu items such as grains from the Andean Plateau, pumpkin cream, beef cheek cooked at a low temperature, Urumbamba giant corn, Pampa Yuyo, and smoked caiguas. Putting together past, present, and future, the menu is an unforgettable culinary experience using distinctive flavours from forgotten tropical and mountainous crops.

To accompany the dishes, a curated list of wines has been selected from local highaltitude vineyards. Cocktails are made with distillates developed by Mater, which aims to explore and interpret Peru’s great biodiversity. Pía and her work have several dimensions; she is a leader with a special sensitivity towards people, she is creative and practical, and she is a manager in the planning processes and in the moments of contention. For this project, Pía has the support of Mater, an interdisciplinary research centre with bases in Lima and Cusco, so that each preparation will nourish more aspects and will satisfy the curiosity of visitors interested in knowing more about Cusco and its impressive richness which show in every culinary and beverage creation.

Florence-born chef Simone Caponnetto is Executive Chef at Locale Firenze. Although his career path is a veritable odyssey through the kitchens of some of the global gastronomic greats, his food is rooted deeply in the flavours and produce of Tuscany. His ingredients are, wherever possible, not just Italian but purely Tuscan. Many chefs born into the heritage of such a famously rich food and wine region, would be kitchen obsessed, having been taught to make pasta at their nonna’s side or helping their mother choose the finest ingredients from local markets in beautiful hill-towns under the summer sun. But for Simone, the opposite was true. Cooking was of no interest to him. What had captured his imagination as a teenager was the work of Jack Kerouac, the American novelist, poet, and pioneer of the Beat Generation. The moment his schooling was over at the age of 18, he booked a flight and headed to America. It was in an American Italian restaurant in uptown Greenwich, (Connecticut) that Simone’s first introduction to the restaurant world began. However, it was work that was born of necessity. He wanted to travel across the U.S. - just as Kerouac had done in his famous novel “On the Road” - and the shifts he put in funded this trip and his flight back home.

Now all he wanted to do was travel, and his attention turned to Australia. Just as in the U.S., he found work in a restaurant to fund this, this time in Sydney at the award winning, 1 Hat, Arras Clarence Street. It was a significant step up the culinary ladder, and Simone worked alongside a pastry chef from Naples. As well as learning a lot about pastry, Simone also started to hear stories about other inspirational restaurants and the chefs his new Neapolitan friend had worked with, especially his stint at The Waterside Inn, which he considered the best experience of his life.

Simone continued to travel through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and India, absorbing everything around him and starting to understand the connection between heritage, culture, and food. But thoughts of The Waterside Inn lingered. When he returned to Europe, he travelled to England and started working under Alain Roux. And that, explains Simone, is where it clicked: his career began with the precision, commitment, and discipline of classic French cuisine at the three Michelin-star level.

From there, Simone dipped into the world of the private chef for a year or two, but the lure of travel had now combined with a passion for cooking at Michelin level. Japan was his first stop and a stage at Narisawa under Yoshihiro Narisawa, then back to Europe, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Bologna under Heinz Beck.

When the opportunity arose to spend time in Spain at Mugaritz under Andoni Luis Aduriz, he jumped at the chance. Here was where he learned to experiment, research, and develop, and the part that he played in the creative process. It was also where he understood the craft involved in fermentation. Simone immersed himself and became one of only a handful of stagiaires asked to remain to prepare and develop the following year’s menu. After eighteen months, Mugaritz proved to be a catalyst that changed not only his mind but also the direction of his career. It had made him realise that he was ready to return home and open his restaurant.

Once back in Florence, Simone met Nerina Martinelli, a food buyer from a family with a farm nearby Settignano. She also wanted to open a restaurant, and she had a site alreadya former garage in the Sant’Ambrogio district of Florence - and a name, Nugolo - after a variety of tomato that is tricky to grow but produces delicious results. “She gave me the keys, and I built it from scratch,” Simone explains of the venture. Inspired now by the local produce of his home region and country, Simone created dishes he described as simple but honest and from the heart. It was a winning formula, and as Nugolo thrived, it attracted many local admirers and visitors alike.

One of these was the director of Locale Firenze, a restaurant set within the stunning Palazzo Concini that dates back, in parts, to the 13th century. He approached Simone with the idea of expanding onto a grander stage. Simone joined in September 2021, bringing a 21st Century renaissance to the kitchen and cuisine of this historical Florentine building.

Located architecturally, spiritually, and culinarily to its beautiful hometown. Although the building has been extended and renovated throughout its life, much of it dates back to the 16th century and beyond: the basement, in fact, dates back to the 13th century, meaning Locale Firenze quite literally has its roots in Florentine history. Those roots also remain vital. The restaurant’s basement is now the location for its wine cellar, along with the mixology lab that helped Locale Firenze’s inventive bar be named one of the World’s 50 Best in 2022.

The creativity and sense of place extend to the restaurant. The roots are Italian. The cooking, by Simone Caponnetto, is a reflection of the chef. Italian at heart, yes, but with a world view borne of many years of travel and working in kitchens such as The Waterside Inn in Bray, Tokyo’s Narisawa, Heinz Beck in Rome and Monte Carlo, and, particularly, Mugaritz. From there, Simone learnt more about experimentation, fermentation, and, particularly, how to use the results in creative, original, and subtle ways. These, and other techniques Simone has learnt through his career, shape the dishes at Locale Firenze. The methods may be complex, but the results are simple and from the heart.

While Simone brings a world of knowledge to his dishes, he suggests the sourcing of his ingredients makes his food Italian. In fact, it might be possible to take it to an even more specific definition as, wherever possible —and at increasing levels—the ingredients are Tuscan, as Simone works with an old school friend who owns a small local holding. Together they have created a garden for the restaurant’s use, with chickens, pigeons, ducks, and fruit and vegetables. Ultimately, the plan is to make Locale Firenze fully sustainable. Beyond that, Simone wants his team to split their time between the field and kitchen to understand and appreciate the ingredients they are working with fully. To that end, the team has also picked wildflowers alongside a local honey maker and fished for trout.

Simone admits he is driven by inspiration itself rather than the need for award recognition, the quest to find the joy in what he and his team do and to share that emotion, that excitement, through his regularly changing menu; to build on the sustainability targets; and, most of all, to keep Locale Firenze moving forward but to always be aware of those deep Tuscan roots.

The Terrace at Rampila is on the original gun emplacement overlooking the defensive ditch and the entrance to the City of Valletta. The position, completed in 1582, was connected with the Cavalier of St. John and was designed to be pivotal part of the defence of the city against attacks from the land. Together with the Cavalier of St. James, facing from the opposite side of the Bridge, the fortifications commanded the approaches to Valletta.

Today St. John’s Cavalier is the seat of the Embassy of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta while the passage way to the middle wing is where the Rampila Tunnel Restaurant is situated. Alongside the Rampila Wine Bar is what remains of the linking tunnel between the two Cavaliers.

Rampila Restaurant today dedicates itself to an entirely more peaceful purpose of offering the finest of cuisine, wines and hospitality in this historic and iconic location.