On September 5, the Michelin-starred restaurant Alice, on the second floor of Eataly Milano Smeraldo, changed decor, style and name, becoming VIVA. “After 12 years, I needed something new,” says Viviana Varese, ever in search of new challenges.
Compliments on the name. How did it come about?
“It’s a word full of positive meaning. It’s a hymn to life [“long live” in Italian], and an acronym for my name: VI for Viviana, VA for Varese.”
Why such a radical change of setting?
“This personal need for change became a good opportunity to modernize the venue, service and brand. Now I’m more focused on myself and my ideas.”
What is the new Viviana like?
“A liberated cook, free from labels and with a 360° vision. I began by creating a vegetable garden outside Milan.”
You opted for freedom?
“Yes, the vegetable garden provides living raw material, and makes for a flexible menu that changes constantly. We even use products that only last a few days a year. Like Tortona strawberries, for instance, or September peaches and others products that can’t be cultivated, not even in a greenhouse.”
What’s in your garden?
“Lettuces, herbs, Jerusalem artichokes, Jelly potatoes, a few flowers. This year we also harvested 700 small but tasty Hokkaido pumpkins and used them all. We started working with a guy who forages in the Lecco area and provides us with dandelion, cornflower, purslane, rue and special herbs, such as the pepper grass he grows in his garden on the lake. Together we select the ones we like best, which grow best.”
How would you define VIVA in a nutshell?
“A Mediterranean restaurant, but one with limitless influences.”
What’s left of the old Alice?
“It evolved on its own. For me, diversity has always been a value, in ingredients as well as in people. My team includes ethnicities and religions from all over the world and, unlike many other Michelin-starred restaurants, half of them are women. Ethics and sustainability must embrace every aspect of work.”
What’s different now?
“It’s more Milanese. We’ve focused on design, art and high fashion (for the uniforms).”
Let’s talk a bit about the kitchen.
“We’re in Milan, in a cosmopolitan setting, so the kitchen is open to the world, with no limits on ingredients.
What’s the menu like?
"We have two: VIVA la Storia, with my classics, like the amazing spaghettino with eel broth, and VIVA, with two appetizers of 7 micro- tastings each, plus 6 courses. For dessert, there are 30 proposals. But the meal is over in two hours at most. Let’s face it: people are a little tired of sitting too long at the table. With the 2 multicolored appetizers, the rhythm is more convivial and, I hope, less tedious.”
Multicolored appetizers?
“Color represents the emotional part of the menu. It’s a concept we express above all through the garden appetizers, and with the desserts.”
A new signature dish?
“Three-pepper sweetbread, zucchini cream and roasted pepper jelly.”
Do you also have a lunch menu?
“It’s a reduced formula of the VIVA menu: a 7-tasting appetizer plus a plate, all for 48 euros. There are two advantages: it’s a true democratic Michelin-starred menu, and it doesn’t weigh on the team. In fact, the dishes are the same at lunch and dinner.”
Last thing: the service.
“To enhance the guest’s experience, at least one dish is finished in the dining room. It’s something new.”