STARRY MICHELIN DREAMS

THE WORLD'S BEST CHEF WHO'S COOKED FOR KING CHARLES, A THREEMICHELIN STAR SWEDISH CHEF WHOSE TASTING MENU IS JAPANESE INSPIRED, OUR VERY OWN MICHELIN-STAR CHEF WHO'S REINTERPRETED THE AROMAS OF HIS CHILDHOOD CITY DELHI, AND THE CHEF WHO MADE PERUVIAN CEVICHE WORLD FAMOUS-HERE ARE THEIR STORIES, AND CREATIONS.

- PRIYA KUMARI RANA

CHEF ENRICO DERFLINGHER Cooking Italian for King Charles and President Bush

On his maiden trip to India, he had accompanied the then Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana. Now, Milan-based Chef Enrico Derflingher is back, rustling up a four-course meal to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Tonino Ristorante in Delhi, with owners, the Sawhney family and their friends.

For Chef Derflingher, the accolades literally roll off the sleeves of his veste blanche. The boy who, at 12 started cooking at his family’s trattoria on Lake Como, became the youngest chef to work for the British Royal Family, becoming White House chef under President George Bush Sr in 1991, earning his first Michelin star for his Florentine restaurant, awarded as the ‘Best Chef in the World’ in 2008, and head chef of the 2024 G7 summit. “Cooking is all I wanted to do since I was very young,” says Derflingher. “I was the first and till now, only Italian chef to ever cook at Buckingham Palace.”

He recalls that King Charles and his mother Queen Elizabeth loved his risotto (which is part of his menu at Tonino), and is literally called Risotto of Prince Charles, with carnaroli rice, Gran Vittoria Bassi DOP (locally made) Gorgonzola, Urbani Tartufi black truffle and saffron threads. “My style is classic Italian, but more modern, he says. “Simple food, with 3-4 ingredients on a plate, that everyone can taste.”

Known to work with regional produce—whether from Sicily, Naples or Lombardia, Derflingher has also been president of Euro Toques, which helps small producers. In the u:k., he would use British meat, fish, butter, cheese and vegetables, but things such as risotto and durum wheat small pasta and spaghetti had to be imported. At the White House, he says Bush Sr liked his pasta with meat, like lasagna.