"Cooking is solidarity and help". These were the words of the chef Filippo La Mantia commenting on the recognition it received: the Golden Ambrogino for meals prepared for workers in Niguarda Hospital's Covid wards during the pandemic emergency. About 600 per day, served from March to May 2020.
An award that confirms, once again, the great sensitivity and attention of the Sicilian chef to people in need. The Ambrogino d'oro is awarded by the city of Milan to its distinguished citizens who have distinguished themselves in particular situations.
E chef La Mantia, or as he wants to be called "innkeeper and cook," La Mantia, did his best during the hardest months of the pandemic to help, by preparing daily meals, the hospital staff engaged in the fight against Covid.
In an article in the Evening Courier, Marco Bosio, director of ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda, said "immensely grateful to La Mantia for the way he made himself available during the worst time we had. Our workers would enter the Covid wards early in the morning, but they did not know when they would leave. That of Chef La Mantia, and his brigade, was an initiative with great human value. A gesture that was by no means taken for granted, appreciated for its generosity, but also for the quality of the dishes."
Chef La Mantia, which is also special guest of the professional cooking courses by Italian Food Academy, won the famous award along with 14 others from a shortlist of 200 nominees. His social commitment is a constant in his work, which, according to the chef, "necessarily passes through people who need assistance," recalling how the most touching experiences are those shared with Gino Strada, his best friend.
This is not the first time a chef has been awarded theGolden Ambrogino: already in 2018 it was the turn of Massimo Bottura and Claudio Sadler to demonstrate the strong social role of food.
And, while the chef from Palermo, anticipates professional news, namely that he will open a restaurant in Milan by 2022, he recalls upcoming social events: on December 15 and 16, in fact, two dinners are planned in Milan for Don Rigoldi's Community, with 12 food protagonists, 8 chefs, 2 pastry chefs and 1 bartender. In addition to La Mantia, there will be. Tommaso Arrigoni, Cristiano Tomei, Elio Sironi, bartender Giorgio Facchinetti, Giancarlo Morelli, Alessandro Borghese, Andrea Aprea, Claudio Sadler, Maurizio Santin and Salvatore De Riso.
