Pietro Zito: a vegetable garden in the heart

Pietro Zito - Antichi Sapori Restaurant - Montegrosso of Andria (BA) - S. Isidore Square: a chef? no, a Perito Agrario, s with a unique passion for cooking, but especially for his land. Born from a peasant family in Murgia, Pietro Zito grew up in a country where the economy still agricultural and pastoral, gave way to swirling changing times, and remained isolated. He became an agricultural expert, began his culinary career by himself, recalling one occasion when he was making a pancake with sautéed onions with his uncle: "Uncle, but where did you learn to cook so well?" "If you know the product, if you respects it, if you take care of it from the sowing, you will also learn to cook, because you'll know which enhance the flavor, and taste it in its growth." A lesson that Pietro has done his. Back in town, in 1992 he opened his first restaurant. At 10 meters from the house a garden that in 2005 reached 13,000 sqm. The products that you will find at the table of the Antichi Sapori come from there (and you can pick them yourself with the chef and his father if you arrive earlier) or from other land nearby where are the vegetables and orchards. Nothing. There's no fish, meat and cheeses from small producers to whom the chef calls the whole history of the animal. And if there is an overproduction of chicory, will be reinvented a traditional dish, in place of mashed fava beans with chicory will be offered a puree of fava beans with chicory ... and if there are more vegetables in the garden, you will be asked to go in the garden and take home a bit with you. Since 2005 Pietro Zito has revolutionized the restaurant: increased from 60 to 35 seats, closed on holidays and Sundays, and has delivered a truly great garden in the nature, with educational tours and explanations to rediscover the historical products of the Murgia. His choice was successful: selling out at the restaurant, the vegetable visitors who come from schools throughout Italy and even Japan. The country of Montegrosso has since then changed life: local producers, farmers and peasants, have a direct and continuing source of income; throughout the area restaurants have sprung up; and the old beans and wild chicory of the place, forgotten, are back on the boards of all; the winemakers have brought new life to the full-bodied wines from Puglia in those lands. A revival that is expressed in the recovery culture and traditional activities, through the haute cuisine. So if you look for restaurants in Puglia, or Murgia, is a place that you cannot lose. Why houte Italian cuisine must be also this, bend to pick up every day the fruits of the earth. WANT TO KNOW BETTER THE CHEF?Look at the VIDEO-INTERVIEW WITH PIETRO ZITO OF ITALIASQUISITA!