Meet Luigi Rana

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luigi Rana. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Luigi, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I have assimilated my work ethic throughout the process of my entire career, essentially from my professional path combined with the human side of cooking. In my opinion, ethics has a common thread with any type of work, there are the same parameters.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

So my career path began in Bari in the south of Italy in 2003 when, while I was in the third year of hotel school, my cooking teachers sent me for the first time to spend the summer season in Sicily. It was a wonderful experience. There I understood that the cooking would have been my life choice From then on, after my diploma at the Armando Perotti hotel institute, a series of wonderful, profound and intense work experiences followed. In Rome where I spent 3 years at the Old Post Office, a 17th century residence overlooking the sea, then many other experiences followed in Italy and around Europe, where I studied and delved into historical traditional Italian cuisine, basically all the habits and customs of all the regions, afterwards there are very historical and time-rooted processes

It is known as a classic example of the Mediterranean diet, recognized as an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2010. Furthermore, it is one of the most well-known and appreciated gastronomies globally Italy is also renowned for the production of starchy foods, olive oil, cheeses, cured meats, wines, fruit and sweets, which are among the over 5300 products of regional traditions. Italian cuisine is the source of a turnover of more than €200 billion worldwide. One of the main characteristics of Italian cuisine is its simplicity[5], with many dishes consisting of just a few ingredients: Italian chefs rely on the quality of the ingredients, rather than the complexity of their preparation. The most popular dishes and recipes, over the centuries, have often been created at home rather than by chefs, and this is why many Italian recipes are suitable for home and everyday cooking, respecting territorial specificities, favoring exclusively raw materials and ingredients from the region of origin of the dish and preserving its seasonality

after which I spent a year in Bangkok and it was certainly among the most significant experiences of my career

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

It is known as a classic example of the Mediterranean diet, recognized as an intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO in 2010. Furthermore, it is one of the best known and most appreciated gastronomies globally Italy is also renowned for the production of starchy foods, olive oil, cheeses, cured meats, wines, fruit and sweets, which are among the over 5300 products of regional traditions. Italian cuisine is the source of a turnover of over 200 billion euros worldwide One of the main characteristics of Italian cuisine is its simplicity with many dishes consisting of just a few ingredients: Italian chefs focus on the quality of the ingredients, rather than the complexity of their preparation. The most popular dishes and recipes, over the centuries, have often been created at home rather than by chefs, and this is why many Italian recipes are adapted to home and everyday cooking, respecting territorial specificities, favoring exclusively raw materials and ingredients from the region. origin of the dish and preserving its seasonality

Knowledge of ingredients: origin, cooking methods, cutting Knowledge of cooking methods Knowledge of wines Knowledge of health and hygiene standards Knowledge of roles within a brigade Knowledge of HACCP regulations Knowledge of traditional dishes Plating knowledge

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

There have certainly been more people, many professionals and cooking masters who have contributed to my training and my vision of cooking as a whole, from a young age but all today I have many mentors who I rely on daily for advice and growth discussions.

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