Italy is no country for young chefs
By Antonella Cinelli
ROME (Reuters) — Like many young people growing up in Sardinia, Davide Sanna loved Italian cuisine and wanted to have a successful career as a chef. But to do so, he had to move to New York.
Sanna had worked in kitchens on the Mediterranean island and in northern Italy for four years, starting when he was only 19. But he was toiling 60 hours a week to take home just 1,800 euros ($1,963.26) a month, at best. In the busy summer season, he'd be at the stove every day for two months, without a break.
Then a fellow chef put him in contact with a restauranteur looking for cooks in New York, Sanna said. He accepted without giving it a second thought.
For the past year, the 25-year-old has cooked at Piccola Cucina, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan's glitzy SoHo district, home to designer boutiques and high-end art galleries. In New York, he can pull down $7,000 a month, working a 50-hour week.
«Here there are regular contracts, nothing in the 'black',» said Sanna, using the Italian slang for undeclared labour. «And, if you work a minute extra, you're paid for it. It's not like that in Italy.»
Italy's food is famous the world over but many talented young chefs, hoping to make a career in their country, find themselves frustrated by low pay, lack of labour protection and scant prospects. Since the launch of Europe's single currency 25 years ago, Italy has been the euro zone's most sluggish economy.
Star chefs like Massimo Bottura, who runs the Osteria Francescana in Modena, are reinventing Italian cuisine. But, given its rich culinary tradition, Italy arguably finds itself under-represented by top-class restaurants. It has 13 with three Michelin (EPA:MICP) stars – the prestigious guide book's highest
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