interview

Luigi Ciciriello

of euros worth of truffles in a crumpled paper bag. Its a constant process of negotiating, making sure we get the absolute best at the right price. Our truffles are all Italian, mainly from Istria and Umbria. The best way to check the quality of a truffle is the obvious way: the smell. I speak six languages fluently: English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. For me, its another way of making our clients feel welcome, and putting them at their ease. Every Sunday when Truffe Noire is closed, I eat out its my ritual. In Brussels, I like Le Coq en Pte (259 Tomberg). Its Italian, with a French twist. The chef, Olivier Bacchetta, uses absolutely top-quality produce and the atmosphere is very relaxed. Molecular gastronomy is finished. Ive eaten at some of the great temples of molecular cuisine: Ferran Adri, Marc Veyrat, Pierre Gagnaire. Their food can be wonderful in very tiny quantities, I think, but not for a whole meal. I dont like the way it forces the customers to eat in a certain, prescribed way. For me, a customer should be able to choose to eat how, and what, they like. Thats our style at La Truffe Noire.

Clockwise: Ciciriello loves to eat at Don Alfonso on the Amalfi Coast; Bologna's Grand Hotel Majestic is a favoured bolthole; The highlight of Ciciriello's cuisine; La Truffe Noire's dining room

Luigi Ciciriello is the godfather of truffles; his restaurant La Truffe Noire in Brussels has been treating discerning Belgian gastronomes to the fabulous fungi for more than 20 years. Emma Beddington learns more about Ciciriello's passion for both his product and his customers, and discovers his favourite places to dine out

Ive been passionate about food since I was eight. When I was growing up in rural Puglia, we lived next door to the village patisserie and it smelled so wonderful I was always begging for cakes. One day the owner said, If you want cakes, you can work for them. So every afternoon after school I would help out, carrying trays of pastries to the bakers oven down the street. I learned how to make cakes and ice cream, and I helped at weddings and communions. When I was 11, people even started hiring me to cater for their weddings by myself. I arrived in Belgium to work as a commis
16 Brussels Airlines b.there! magazine January 2012

chef aged 16 and I have lived here ever since, always working in the restaurant business. The Truffe Noire has been open for 23 years and I still have the same two head chefs that I started out with Erik Lindelauf and Aziz Bhatti. Were not set in our ways though; we like to experiment, to push ourselves. We make everything on site, including four types of bread every day and 10 or 12 homemade ice creams. A restaurant needs a soul. Here at La Truffe Noire, thats me. Ive always been dedicated

to what I do, thats my secret weapon. I try to be in the restaurant for every service, even when Im not in the mood; I shave the truffles and prepare our special carpaccio faon Luigi for customers at their table. Its part of the ceremony of eating here; people look forward to it. The truffle business is very personal and secretive. I often work with two of the biggest names in the world of truffles the Zigante and Urbani families but people also just turn up at the restaurant without warning, sometimes with thousands

People always crave the food from their childhood. For me, the best food in the world is my mothers: her tomato sauce and her grilled peppers. Italian cuisine is superlative. I love Bologna, especially the beautiful Grand Hotel Majestic (8 Via Indipendenza), and Naples: theres a wonderful restaurant on the Amalfi coast, in the village of SantAgata sui due Golfi, called Don Alfonso (11/13 Corso Sant'Agata). It's very simple, but very accomplished. Since we won back our Michelin star in 2010, we have had the best two years in our history. The crisis hasnt really affected us. Some customers are more careful with what they order, or what wine they choose, but mostly people come here for a special occasion and they want to have an unforgettable evening. If customers leave

saying Yes, it was expensive, but it was worth it, thats a great compliment. I dont care about how much money I make in an evening. Im perfectly happy if our customers choose our 50 set menu and a bottle of water. What matters for me is that they have a good time, because then they come back, again and again, and they tell their friends about us. We have one customer who

has been coming every week for 18 years. Hes a friend now, we always spoil him. The best way of serving truffles is the simplest: raw, freshly shaved on to pasta, risotto or lightly scrambled eggs. It only takes four or five grams of black or white truffle per person to create a plateful of flavour, so its really not that expensive if you use it right. La Truffe Noire, 12 Boulevard de la Cambre, +32 (0)2 640 4422, truffenoire.com

IMAGE 4CORNERS