Ossigeno

in the mood. an intervi w to august lill In the mood , groovy and pleasant, like the 1939 jazz classic performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, revisited through the raw twist of Nordic electro, rough and contemporary, as the land from whence he came. That's how I perceive an August Lill-signed taste experience: as if it was a brilliant electro cover of a smooth music classic. This eclectic chef started studying arts and playing music, but soon turned in an almost self-made Master of cuisine in Sweden, where he was born. In France he high-trained his career - at first in the South, in Uzès, then in Paris, at La Gazzetta , at Frenchie , at Roseval , and during events curated in collaboration with other renowned chefs, until now he became the name . �uality and quantity , that is Lill's motto. You can do so much with very little , as he states during our conversation, could be took as practice to describe his discipline. The secret, eventually, lies in the magic to create a great experience, sometimes even using low-profile raw materials, in a perfect fusion between the pure hedonistic principle by Epicurus in philosophy and by Adam Smith in economics. Here is our interview to August Lill, pure - and ethical - pleasure - seeker. Mr. Lill, how did you start cooking? I started cooking professionally in 2002. I was studying art at the University of Lund, and I was in need of money during the writing of an academic essay. I thought I could maybe do some extra work in kitchens. I had an interest in cooking, and there were many restaurants around, so I figured to pass a generai course in kitchen standards and I was licensed to apply for some jobs. By luck I had a friend who worked in a summer restaurant, in a beautiful village off the coast in the south of Sweden, and through my friend I landed my first cook job, at Johannas Skafferi in Kåseberga. Johannas is a wonderful person. With her husband, she was running this small restaurant where I got to get my first taste of restaurant cooking. Johanna was lovely in showing me how the stuff was done, she was an experienced chef and she was taking good care of me. I fell really in love with restaurant working, and I realized that that was my way. Summer was over and I needed a new job, when I saw a newspaper advertising offering a cook job in Copenhagen. Cap Horn , that was its name, was a whole other experience than the one where I came from. lt was a very busy restaurant in the tourist area of Nyhavn. There I learned how to work fast and hard. Long days without any breaks, serving 200-300 guests a day. Hustling out food as good as you could do it. But it was a remarkably helpful experience. I got a good insight in how a big commerciai restaurant was to be managed. I was quite fast promoted to sous-chef , and suddenly I was responsible of running a kitchen. I just learned as I went along, without any proper training or education, but with an outstanding interest for the profession. This kind of curiosity has followed me through my working career [and it stands still]. #pop-up chef curated by Federico Spadoni 18 19 p o p - u p c h e f p o p - u p c h e f