A warm HELLO from chef valenti...HERE'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
I was born and raised in Lombardy, and although I have lived in Marin County for more than 30 years, Italy has never quite let me out of its sight. In time, Marin claimed me too—with its generous land, remarkable products, and people who know a good meal when you make them one. Connecting these two magnificent places through my cooking, and their cultures and traditions through my restaurant, came like a natural order of things.
I have devoted my life to learning the art of cooking since I was 14: culinary school, apprenticeships, work in many Michelin-starred restaurants, and, perhaps most importantly, a small mountain of books, notes, and observations. I have had the good fortune to work with some of the finest chefs in the world—Gualtiero Marchesi, Gaston Lenotre, Gianfranco Vissani, and Michel Rostang, to name a few. My Father, Jean Valenti pictured below, founded the Italian Association of Sommeliers - "AIS" - in 1965, now over 20,000 strong. Each of this culinary mavericks added something to my education, though the lesson I carry closest is this: “A chef is only as good as the last dish he served.” It is an unforgiving rule, and the surest way to keep a chef humble. So, day in and day out for the past thirteen years, you have found me behind the stoves here at Valenti's, cooking each dish as though it might be my last—and hoping, naturally, that it earns me another. Salute!
I have devoted my life to learning the art of cooking since I was 14: culinary school, apprenticeships, work in many Michelin-starred restaurants, and, perhaps most importantly, a small mountain of books, notes, and observations. I have had the good fortune to work with some of the finest chefs in the world—Gualtiero Marchesi, Gaston Lenotre, Gianfranco Vissani, and Michel Rostang, to name a few. My Father, Jean Valenti pictured below, founded the Italian Association of Sommeliers - "AIS" - in 1965, now over 20,000 strong. Each of this culinary mavericks added something to my education, though the lesson I carry closest is this: “A chef is only as good as the last dish he served.” It is an unforgiving rule, and the surest way to keep a chef humble. So, day in and day out for the past thirteen years, you have found me behind the stoves here at Valenti's, cooking each dish as though it might be my last—and hoping, naturally, that it earns me another. Salute!
