SPEAKER_00 0:00

In this episode of the Hospital Dojo podcast, I chat with Andrea Trancero, Executive Chef for Gorilla Asia Pacific. Andrea has cooked for icons like Giorgio Armani, Roger Federer, and Sir Richard Branson. We explore his Michelin star journey, how Italian traditions evolve across cultures, and what it's like cooking for some of the world's most famous people.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

This episode is proudly brought to you by Food and Hospitality Week, a major event in Australia's hospitality calendar connecting 15,000 chefs, owners, and industry professionals every year. Andrea Tronchero. Beautiful. The executive chef for Barilla Group in the Asia Pacific region. Yeah, correct. Amazing. And how long have you been? So you said you started your journey in Australia?

SPEAKER_02 0:53

I started my journey with Barilla. Gorilla in Australia. Yeah. But before I was a chef in an Italian restaurant, in Itali in hotels. So I started very early in my career. And how old were you then when you started? 15. Wow. Now you ask me how old I'm now.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

No, no, no, no. We say how young are you now?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Yeah, so I spent all my career working basically in the restaurant, hotel, all around the world. And then 10 years ago, I have a possibility, opportunity to uh be executive chef for Barilla in charge for uh uh Australia and New Zealand. Then five years ago, they offered me the position in Singapore where I live in at the moment, and I'm controlling all the region. That's amazing. Become a little bit bigger.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Nice, nice. But Andrea, you've you've worked in Michelin-starred restaurants before across the globe. And how was the experience, you know, from your your current role as Borilla's executive chef?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

A very good question because uh I mean I believe you need to start, you know, on the young age to make your you know, your base, right? And when you are confident you can move on the next step. So uh I start with uh in Italy with the Michelin star set because I feel it's a really uh specific uh uh job. Everybody are working very hard to reach the goal. Sometimes you know the restaurant is busy, busy, but the quality is not the same. Some problems, some in Michelin style it's impossible. It means you are in or you're out.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

It's like a I don't know, if you're in the army, right? I s I heard you when you sat down and I use that reference all the time. You had your sleeves rolled up and you rolled them down, you're just in battle. Yeah, the same thing we say for our consulting services here at the Hospital Dojo is that we're not a battalion where we run the front line, we're like a squad of snipers. That's it. You call us in to do one job and we're there to do that. So I totally understand exactly where you're coming from.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah, so I have this experience, of course, but then when they move, as you asked me in Barilla, my role change. Of course. Of course. In the beginning I was a chef because all my life. Then now I'm more like a promoter, I'm more a trainer, I'm more a consultant with our customer.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Customer in your company. Yes. That's amazing. And what does it mean for you to represent the Italian cuisine on the global stage, you know, especially in markets so so diverse like Asia and Australia?

SPEAKER_02 3:22

Uh very, very, very, very nice uh uh uh atmosphere because of course I'm Italian, I was born there, I I know my culture, but I like also to use some local ingredients to make a little bit a modern twist. I don't like to say fusion because fusion makes confusion. I like that. But I like to use some local ingredients that are close or similar to the one we can get in eating.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

So well, that's beautiful. And how do you how do you strike that balance between staying true to the Italian roots, right? And adapting to the local taste. So that's by you using the local ingredients that they might find that's similar, right?

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Yeah, so I mean when you say my my country is wide, you know, from Japan to Australia. So I always say, you know, when I when I have this kind of interview, when I talk with a customer, I have my luggage, I have my experience, but each country has to adapt myself. So the translation in the recipe that they use in Australia are maybe are not good for Korea. Or the one I use in Korea maybe are not good for Vietnam.

SPEAKER_01 4:26

You have to localize the product. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

You have to you have I think the balance is with the spices and with the salt. Because I believe uh as Italian we use more salt than Asia. For the fact in Asia most of the time they use soy sauce that is salt. So they don't put the soil. That's okay. They don't put the physical salt, but they use soy sauce to enrich the flavor. Yes. And sometimes the spices, because in Italy we use salt, pepper, and herbs. In Asia specific, they use a lot of mix of spices and that are not familiar with me, but become interesting.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Wow. And and what do you think is one recent varilla initiative or recipe that blends tradition and innovation in that unique way?

SPEAKER_02 5:11

Hmm, hmm. One of the battles that we have was like Carbonara. You know, Carbonara is I I work for I'm a barilla executive chef, but work I work with a marketing team. So sometimes I have two hats, the chef hat and marketing, right? So I feel like Carbonara is the name as a marketing name. People know people will order, right? But specifically in Asia, they don't use the same ingredients we use in the original Carbonara. Carbonara. I give an example. I I live in Singapore, so I do the project with a customer, and they ask me, Chef, prepare the carbonara. The color of the carbonara on my pasta dish was yellow. And they say, no, it's white. I say, how it would be white if you had the egg inside. So we were struggling, but the market, uh the perception of the market carbonara is without the eggs. So my recipe in the market will felt. So I say, uh we need to change the name. We make cream sauce or something, but carbonara.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

You can't use carbonara, right? 100%.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

You know what I mean? So sometimes I can stretch, sometimes I have to say not too much.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Well, that that's you know, that's it, and that's that's very important. You know, I was speaking with the found one of the uh family members of Brown Brothers, and Brown Brothers is a very big wine company in Australia. Yep. They're up to the fourth generation of family owners, yeah, 167 years. Wow. And we were saying the same thing that you know you're going through when they're developing a product, it's something they don't know. Yeah. They say we we can't just do it. And they she had told me that they're late to the market with the zero alcohol product, but they wanted to make sure it was right. And her her perception was Emma said, if it's not on my table drinking with my friends, then we're not gonna have it. Yeah, right. And that's the same thing that I believe you would you would see there too, right? Yeah, um, and and that's I I really, you know, I appreciate that statement because there are some things that can't change, and there are some things if I don't know, let's find out, right? And that's that's a great piece of uh piece of insight. What's one timeless principle of Italian cooking that you think every chef should carry with them? You know, what's one technique, what's one style that you think every chef should should be able to utilize and and hold on to?

SPEAKER_02 7:26

When you cook, when you specific in Italian cuisine or in general?

SPEAKER_01 7:29

In general, but something that you've learned from it the Italian cuisine culture.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Yeah. I think you need to first the ingredients. We always talk about ingredients more and more in the you know, the last year, because in it if you think about Italian cuisine, it's very simple. But they use very, very fresh ingredients, you know. And uh I give an example just to make it a little bit more easy to understand. I'm a little bit older, right, than you, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

You're still a young man.

SPEAKER_02 7:56

But when I started the journey, I told you, I was very young. So I was I was born in North Italy and I got the job in South Italy.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

Very different.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

I was 16.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:07

And I, when I eat the in the restaurant, you know, for lunch stuff meal, I find something very spicy. And it was the first time in my life, believe me, that I tried the chili. Okay. And I was 16. Because in the north, my mother never used the chili. So I was, you know, shocked. Shocked. So what I want to say, in this day, we know everything because the internet, you know, you travel more. But back on the day, really from north to south was totally different. Was very exciting, but when I come back after four months that I finished my you know summer season, I bring some chili in my luggage. Yes. And when I put on the table, my mom was she tried, and my father said no. I don't know what it did.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Look incredible, but this is a story.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

It's uh that's that's that's a that's amazing. So you're saying, you know, in in if I was to translate that to a you know, a modern chef now, it's about being able to open your palate up more. Correct. Utilize the freshest produce, and let's hone in on the localization of things.

SPEAKER_02 9:13

And also, you know, we always say Italian cuisine, we need to have a respect, right? So, for example, specific in pasta. We are running now the pasta championship in Asia to promote our product, also to teach in one hour, you know, how to cook pasta in an Italian way. So, my key word is pasta, has to be the hero of the dish. What it means is this if you go to the Italian restaurant, I order pasta. I want to have pasta with some ingredients. I don't want to ingredient with pasta somewhere, right? The same if you compare, because I'm working here on the stage with pasta and pizza, the Italian pizza, the classic is margarita, just tomato and mozzarella. But now, you know, on this day people want everything on top of the pizza.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Some they call pizza, so that's yeah, that's a nice piece of advice. Now you you you know, you're you you're very, you know, you're actually an amazing person, very calming, but you've managed to work for notable figures like Giorgio Armani, yeah, Roger Federer.

SPEAKER_03 10:15

Yeah, I did.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Right? These are like phenomenal people that a lot of people look up to. What was it like working with them?

SPEAKER_02 10:23

Again, you know, for the the the same principle, specific Armani, for example, right? We opened Armani restaurant, the first Armani restaurant in Ginza in Tokyo. I spent any year in Tokyo and I finished my career in Armani. So Armani was a very uh well-known brand, and they decided to create the building, Armani Building Ginza, that is the more expensive uh piece of land in Tokyo. And uh we need to create the menu for the Japanese customer, right? So I create the menu Italian simple, but then the day before the opening, Mr. Armani himself he came and looked at the menu and have a few comments. For example, I give you an example and say, I want the restaurant like when I travel, I get home and I feel comfortable, like spaghetti pomodoro, tomato spaghetti. And I say, Look, I don't know how to say it's not the right place to present spaghetti pomodoro and sell for a fortune, you know? So we need to adapt a little bit because so we put on our manager, for example, I put spaghetti pomodoro and our money selection. Because he decides. So the manager was talking with the customer, this was Mr. Armani has for the chef. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

So make a little bit in marketing and you know, give a uh I mean you know, and and and I totally respect that because it's it's very important to localize uh your products, like for example, when Starbucks launched in Australia, they failed in the beginning because they didn't have the flat white or the long black that people are looking for, right? So so you know, if but for you it was a very difficult scenario because you had Giorgio Armani, who's a primal figure that says, I want spaghetti promo daughter, right? And I guess restaurateurs uh always have this challenge that they they love what they like, but at the same time it's not what the customers want. So so what you're doing in regards to highlighting, hey, this might be something that you might not know, but this is a this is you know our selection. Give it a try. Give it a try. Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

And just to follow what you asked me, Roger Feather is same. When I cook for Australia Open, we have a pop-up barrella restaurant, and Roger was there with the team. So every day he played on the on the field, half two hours before the game, we prepare pasta for himself and the team. The recipe was spaghetti pomodoro with parmigiano reggiano. That's it.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

That's all he wanted.

SPEAKER_02 12:54

Cook al dente, we deliver. And more we go close to the final, he has bigger portion because you have to stay longer on the stay longer on the game. On the game. So give a little bit of carbo, a little energy. But simple tomato spaghetti with parmigiano.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Amazing. Does Barilla have a stand here this year?

SPEAKER_02 13:10

We are here with uh with our distributor. Beautiful. I'm cooking there every day from I just finished now basically.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Okay, amazing. Tomorrow I'm gonna come past. Please. Spaghetti Promodoro?

SPEAKER_02 13:21

No, here because we are in the food service event. We have to do something more fancy. Right. Still Italian, yes, but with uh a little bit more modern with a modern twist.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Yeah. I appreciate the simple things.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

It's it's simple. You will see. You enjoy it? People don't believe me. You ask me, oh, you put cream. No. How is possible it's so good?

SPEAKER_01 13:41

It's chef.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

It's chef.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Now, last question for you, chef. Yeah. What's one piece of advice you would give to you know aspiring chefs who want to build a successful career in the culinary world like you?

SPEAKER_02 13:54

I can say two. Yeah. Uh the first one, be honest. Because this world, specifically on the food service, is a small world. People know each other. Even if you don't know, they will know you. So keep honest and you know, everybody will respect you. The second one, I will say thank you to this chef jacket. I travel all around the world. So I start from a small village in Italy. Now I speak five languages. I travel from Los Angeles, Paris, Tania in Tokyo, Beijing, Perth, Sydney, and now in Singapore with the chef jacket. So it's not so bad.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

That's beautiful. That's amazing. Uh Andrea, we have your Instagram, I believe. Yes, please. We'll share it on Instagram. I want to share it to my followers. These are so these messages are so powerful from a man that's been able to cook uh for some of the greats who've been great inspirations to many people. Uh, you know, as a kid, I always watched Roger Fetto, and to know that your pastor was a few of his winning games, that's amazing. Yep, thank you. Thank you, Chef. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Grazie.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

I'll give you one more question. Yep. What's your go-to dish?

SPEAKER_02 15:12

So the my my really like uh uh comfort zone or my favorite is linguini, so I like spaghetti a little bit flat. Yes, garlic, olive oil, and chili, and if it's possible, some seafood like prawn with some oleo base, right? With the chili, because I learned when I was in the chili, exactly. And the lili now I like. Sometimes I put too much. Wow. Because you know, when you are confident.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

I shouldn't take you to I'll take you to my grandfather's. If you're ever in Sydney, let me know. Yeah, I will pick you up. Yeah, I'll take you to my grandfather's garden. So you have all these. He's got amazing, wow, amazing chilies, amazing vegetables. He's got a little kitchen in his garage. Oh, right. He's not allowed to cook inside. My grandmother says, you make a mess, you cook outside. Okay. Yeah. So uh we always cook some stuff up in there, but that's beautiful. It's you know, one thing that I loved about Italy, I was driving between Italy to from Rome, I was driving to Tuscany. Yep. Uh Massimo Tor Torni, I think it's near Pisa. Yeah. Uh we stayed in a beautiful grotto there. What and when I stayed at this place, the breakfast was just so beautiful. The cheese, it was all DOP, like it was phenomenal, and you could just really taste the authenticity and the simplicity in the food. Agree. Right? And even when you're driving and you stop at the grill house, the auto grills, yeah. What are they this food is phenomenal? Like, honestly, it it's better than things that I've ever seen before. Yeah. And it's inside of like a QSR. Yeah. And even when, you know, I'm not asking you to comment on this, this is my personal opinion. And there might be some people that that might uh there they can hear this outside, but when Italy took the stance on, you know, the fake meat, for example, and they're like, hey, we get it, the world's doing it, but we don't like it. You know, and they did it from a health forum board, yeah, because of the additives and all the other stuff, right? I know there's some people exhibiting here and stuff like that, and that's up to them, but Italy stays true to province, yeah, and they still stay true to product, and they love what they do and they love the simplicity, and I think that's what's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

Yeah, but it means if you go, I'm like I say, I'm working for this industry for a long time. When I start, like you mentioned, mission star, I use I spend a lot of money to eat in this kind of fine restaurant because it was good for me to learn, right? And education, yeah. Education. But now that I'm working for Barella for ten years, I prefer to go in this kind of tratoria or something simple to really to understand and appreciate the simple food from from the garden from from wherever it is.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

And that's beautiful. And I appreciate a lot. Oh, beautiful. Well, chef, if you're ever in Sydney, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna give you my details. You need to call me and I'll take you to some local spots. Thank you. Hey, beautiful, thank you so much.