Remo Ruffini

You are listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair.

If you find yourself on a freezing mountain and you need a ski jacket, if you're going to a party and want something beautiful to wear, or if you're in Paris or Milan and craving perfectly cooked fish, the man to meet is our guest to day. Remo Ruffini, CEO and Chairman of Montclair, co owner of Langusturia restaurants and cities all over the world. Ramo is dynamic, elegant and

The station was a project that I have in mind since ever, you know, because I love dream. I dream every day, do you Yes, I try to be consistent.

That's what I said at the quote. I said that every day I went to school and I thought, what am I going to day dream today? That was That's what I said. Tell me about your dreams.

No, in my in my life and my job, uniqueness is very important, and to give food for thought to the uniqueness. I think dream is very very important, you know. I think I try to dream every day, every day, every night, you know, and always I always say after the dream and say, yes, this is a dream. But I honestly must be very consistent on that otherwise remain too high, you know, remain remain in a dream.

Dream I think is helping.

Me a lot to give, to give me the possibility to make the next step, especially in my job.

When you say you dream of food, do you think of what you're going to eat that day, what you're going to cook that day?

Unfortunately, I dream of food too, much.

I love every every food, I love every kitchen, I love every you know.

All around the world.

I travel a lot, and very cool is to understand the culture in every in every country. But I don't want to be spoiled. But when I back home, when I'm back in Italy, I always find the best raw material, you know. And I want to talk about this receipt about later. And I think you know, when I talk about romata, especially in South Italy, you know, you can mix something very easy, cooks something very easy with really

It is amazing, you know.

But Eving said that I love I love the kitchen from the food from South America. I love Japan, I love China, I love everywhere. But back to Italy, I feel much more comfort.

Let's see.

Well, what I say about Italian food is that if you cook with very few ingredients, those ingredients have to be so good. You're making ingredients and we love it like you. I love complexity. I love French food. When you get a fish with hollandaise sauce, so you get a beef that's been cooked in wine for hours and hours. But that the changes in the cooking. Whereas if you grill a piece of fish and las collo or where we love, or you make a pasta with just tomatoes,

Doesn't it And then it's very important.

I learned a lot in South Italy because for example, I love spaghetto with yellow tomato, the small yellow tomato. But you can have only this yellow tomatoes soil in certain periods of the year because they must be very dry. Very dry means the wait to take it when it's really dry, ready for make the best paghetta pomodoro.

That is not obvious. You know.

Normally you go to buy in the in the store and the shopping. But this is make the big difference. That's why I think the raw material is everything. Having say that I love many other food you know, also slow cooking that we're talking before, I love a lot slow cooking. In terms of cook especially the meat. I don't and I'm not a fan of meat, but you know, I meat mostly it's low food, cook meat, you know, because there you can have a go in Morocco, you.

Know, and then.

And we have a lamb shoulder, you know, cooker eighteen hours.

That's interesting to me that you grew up in this region like Como, and yet the food you talk about quite often is from the south.

I think there is very interesting food also in Lombardia. In the area of Milano Como, it's very wintry food. It's very heavy. Let's say we have a catsuola. It's a mix of vegetable, is a mix of part of meat, all cooked together. Very very you know, wintry, very wintry. Milano is very popular for the Trippa trip as well, is very heavy, heavy, but we have we have many or sobuco or sob with yellow rices.

More Bologna is more bologn.

My love, you love, but I started, Yeah, fantastic.

You know, there is a lot of food here, very very interesting in my area. But really for winter, I think it's very because we are very close to the mountain. You know, the influence is really from more for the mountain.

But do you think the originalism of Italy is very strong?

I think so.

You can eat Italian all around the world. Now, you know, you find an amazing restaurant, you know, amazing food in terms of cook I was really last week in the middle of nowhere, let's say it was close to Santa Barbara. In this Italian restaurant. It was Massimo the chef, for sure. I don't remember the name of the restaurant. It was inside the in this place Montecito, that is an hotel.

It's a big hotel there, yes.

Owns by these guys from Los Angeles. Rick Caruso invite me at this Italian restaurant. Actually, who was you know?

Huge?

I say, you know, I say no, I say, Massimo came here. I have to understand this really Italian cuisine. I like to have a touch of carbonara, in a touch of paper like this, I can understand really if you make not like to be Massim was poor, but the paper and carbonaro was very good.

In London they used to say that in and I think probably in America as well, that a lot of restaurants were opened not by chefs but by managers of waiters who'd come over and so they cooked the kind of food that we all had a vision of. You know, quite heavy and certainly where I grew up in New York, the the idea of Italian American food was very.

Too many, too many problems inside, many things, too many things.

Yeahonar is very easy, eggs, cheese or catcha pepper is pepcorino and pepper. You know, you make it not much in the last twenty years, but I used to cook a lot. Now sometimes I love to cook vegetables, but try to really copy the receipt from the South Italy, you know, especially when you have egg plant with tomato and salt, or fabe with onions. You know, this kind of this kind of specially receipt from South Italy.

I like to cook.

And the lemons are so amazing, you.

Know another interesting things.

Yes, yeah, but you can get Southern Italian food here.

Do you wait till you go to You can have rare you know.

There is a few plays that have daily delivery, but mostly you have to go for me. Much better in Naples than in Sicily and Ccils. They used to have good food, I think now is in Naples, Apples and area. You know, it's much better again in Siciies they too much, you know, they put too many ingredients in every receipt, I think, and Naples is the best.

I like capponata. Do you like capponata? But I like it very with very little in it the other but sometimes people put too much in the capponata. You just want the egg plant and the raisins and few pinets.

I think caponata is good when it's the real Sicilian number one, that is without pepper. Then I make to make confusion, you know, I mean it's more simple, it is, I think as well. The caponata is good, I.

Think, and tomato, so maybe what we should do is read the recipe. As we're talking about tomatoes, tomatoes pomadori from the south, shall we read the recipe that you chose.

To Yes, I think is this is a very simple recipe that I like very much.

Because it's based on two ingredients. You know. But normally when the.

Recip is so simple, it's very difficult to make it is I always say, is like architecture, you know, you feel the minimalism is easy to design. No, minimalim is very difficult to design, you know, because it's only questions, few details, and everybody can say the few details. So I try to easy read my receipt because I think it is interesting to understand. To make this very simple low roasted tomato with basil, we have for six people.

Think they need.

I think they need every thirty minutes, gently pressed the tomato with a spoon, carefully remove from the oven, and finish the dish with some olive oil on top and serve at room temperature.

Good.

Yeah, you know, I.

Think it's a few things, but not difficult to make it, you know, but you have to be very careful. The most important thing here is the raw material.

So you would make this in the summer. It would only make this. So we sometimes have people coming in from New York or somewhere to the River Cafe in January and they say, like a tomato salad, and we say, we don't have tomatoes, and they go, come on, you know, you're an Italian restaurant, we're the tomatoes, and we could because you can get good tomatoes. Actually they have winter tomatoes from Sicily. Have you had those, the very hard

This is very live tomato.

And I'll tell Lorenzo. But also I think what I'm reading this recipe and I haven't read it for a while, is I think when I tell the chefs it's important to press the water out of the tomato, because tomatoes, I keep saying, tomato, tomato, it has a lot of water in it, doesn't it. And you need to kind of sort of just very gently flatten it so the juice comes out and.

Then you're left with with the This is very ready because I try an alternative in French they call tomat provinceal that is more or less the same.

My gain.

They put a lot of fers, a lot of things that is not.

As good as this. If you have a very good material, do you cook yes? Sometimes sometimes yes, and you sell on the south. I use the boat only weekend.

When I start from let's me say Portofino, I go down to Corsica Sardinia. I love Punza. That is incredible approach, that incredible place they love the call the Costira Malfitana. Sty out there because not too much, because I increase weights, I mean I eat too much.

When you travel? Do you think about what you're going to eat? Do you think very often about when you go to If you go to a country that you don't know or a city you don't know, do you research before you go?

I research. I really love to discover. You know.

When i'm the boat, I go every day morning to make shopping. Just understand the producce, just understand the culture and normally maybe it tells you a lot, Yes, very important. Sometimes we're going special wrestaurant. Then I just understand the local cuisine.

You know.

For example, last year I went in Turkey.

That's good.

Yes, the food was actually very good. You're going very simpletory. They have this kind of meds. What did you do you remember of many many things. Aubergine is very good. Aubergine smoke of mergine is very very good. A lot of vegetables started they called meds. I think they are quite not all but a few there are quite quite interesting, like much.

More, this kind of meds approach.

The River Cafe is excited. We're opening the River Cafe. Cafe. Come from a morning briocean cappuccina, a plate of sea an all antipasty on the terrace, or on ice cream, or a paratibo in the sun. We can't wait to open, and we cannot wait to welcome you. Growing up, Can we talk about what it was like to grow up in your household? Because you grew up here with your mother and your brothers and sisters.

Do you have a big have one brother? Were born?

Everybody in Como on the lake, and I was there since a few years ago, still back and forth and mostly now I'm Milano.

I grew in Como.

My father and my mother was They have a clothing company at that time, very similar to my job, different style, very similar to my job.

Then I love Cooma. I don't want to move from Como, no reason to move.

What was the food like in your house? Did your mother and father cook or did you have not much?

Not much because they work a lot, you know, they traveling lot.

Did you love food from an early age? Was it important?

Not much?

You know, because there is no We didn't have the culture that time to you know, quality, to have the best product was more when I was fifteen fourteen sixteen, it was more what we call junk food, you know, to go. We opened McDonald's in Milana. Everybody wants to go to McDonald's in Milano. You know, this was the approach of that time. But you know in Como the food is not very interesting.

Do they But it's very well.

It's not Pimonte, No.

It's Lombard.

The region of Milano's forty five minutes from Milano. The food is okay.

I would say the love the lake lakes fish that I'm not a fine at all.

And there is persico I don't know in English, fried with rice, you know that is specially don'nama. We have like three four fish that today I don't eat at all. When I was, it's especially on Friday. We used to use this kind of missle teeny, this kind of fish.

What did your parents entertain? Would they have dinners and parties? Did you we're growing up because.

There was more very fashion at that moment, you know, because fashion was super important in Italy. It was the beginning of fashion. Because we're talking about the seventies, you know. Then my father moved to United States late.

Sixties, sixty eight or sixties.

Because you have a company in Italy and it was much more successful in the United States. Actually, ninety percent of the business was in the United States. The ten percent was in Europe. He decided to move to New York.

With the family.

No, we stay, We stay with my mom.

And now I see he moved.

He moves, he moves alone.

Basically, I was living in Greenwich, Connecticut, very close to New York.

Back and forth. The office was in New York and this was in a come back.

Was it when you would visit him? Would you go to eat American food? Did you?

In his house? Was Italian food? Yeah?

All the Italian food, yes, and a lot of vegetable I remember very Italian and very Italian approach. And then when when we go out, was a different restaurant, and mostly we stay because I was visiting him in Greenwich. I mostly staying Greenwich because he won't back and forth to work and the Greens. It was a couple of very small restaurants, very nice, very interesting, very very very coast.

Very you know, you know, yeah exactly. I love the lot of the food.

Did you like it?

Yes, okay, very American. You know, in general, I love the atmosphere more than the food. In all the West Coast, you can find someplace very nice. I love all the New England area, you know, starting from Upper New York State, go into Rhode Island.

You know that lobster did your lobsters main.

Is in very strong for lobsters.

I love all the area of Iena Sports, Martha's Vinian, you know, Nintaketa Island. All this era I think is super super interesting. Then when I I back from United States, my first company I found when I was twenty years old, the name was New England. Because I was so in love with this area that I called my clothing company.

You know New England.

Does it still exist? No?

No, it's not exist because I sold the company in two thousand. The people they bought was not They're not very successful.

It's very young to form a company, yes, very young. Did you have backing from you from your family? No?

No, honestly no.

I tried to make everything alone because my mother said, you have to come work in my company. My father said, you have to come work in my companies.

And I want to. I want to make and I want to make my own I want to make a startup, you know.

I want to make a step by step, very very little step, especially at the beginning because I was a lonely company and the only employee was me. I didn't have the money to towire other people. And then step by step I build a company.

When you say that you dream of food or you go you're looking for food and other cultures. Was this something that came later or do you think you always.

After a few years, as food become very very important, you know, now is I'm all research all around the world. I'm very curious about food, you know. I would research something new, a new place to have a good experience. I think it's a mix between food and experience, you know, I think a good food in a sad place. I'm not very interesting, you know. I think the balance between

So tell me about Langusteria. I had to tell you that two years ago I was in miland to me, I was on my way to Venice to the Vinale and somebody said, there's only one restaurant to go to in Milan, and it was a language to Ria. It was the one. I think you have several, but it was the one on the water there's a little canal. Yeah, and it was the best meal I've had in a very very long time. So tell me about how you started.

This was an acquisition. We'll not find Languasteria, you know. It was an acquisition from our family office, because we have a division when to invest in experience, more experienced food, hospitality for them, beverage in this and I think this actually was the first acquisition. Was only small restaurant, couple of doors. They have a Milano, very very nice.

But I went.

I tried to win there. I was I was not very familiar. Honestly, I went there a couple of times, you know, and then start talking with the owner and I think the food and the service and was very curated, you know, the the raw material was imported from Maple Sicily, you know, the best place to have this kind of fish or the other fish. I think it was very courageous. The culture they was very interesting. We buy a steak,

We have in Milan. Now we have four restaurants.

Yes, are they different from each other, but different experience.

Different experience exactly. And the food is is on our line more or less. This is the food.

But we have different produce, different different quality, always the best quality to have. Sometimes in the bistroy you find Polypo and in Langusteria you find Caribbin air or just to give you an example, different different level of food than we open in Porto Fino. Yes, into that one, very very nice on the beach. Then we open on the last floor of Blank in Paris. That is the view is incredible, you know, there is the spinning is

Sorry.

We opened a fantastic place two years ago in Semurza on the on the sloops. Fantastic really is the best one for my for me because it's a small chalet, you know, all in wood, and the difference of the culture between mountain chalet and eating fish, you know, it's the only fish restaurant in some more it. I think it's very interesting. We have a couple of two tree received very more mountain.

You know.

We have polaina with the seafood, we have soup with the seafood. We try to have something special for for for the mountain and mostly it's the same menu that we have in Milano. But the experience that is very very interesting.

It's interesting that you say polenta with fish because when I went to Venice, they do you know, polenta with scallops with cape. They do scalp with langustine, and it was kind of a mindset to suddenly have polenta with fish.

But typical from from Venice. They used to have mostly spolina with cold. Yes, they used to have polenta with coda. Polenta bacala is the typical dish from will make totally different. We make very soft polaina with fruit ma you know, clams, shrimp, gumbus, and it's very very nice, very nice.

We went to in Padua or Verona, I can't remember years ago when we were. I was there with Richard, a restaurant that actually runs a recommended, and we discovered a pasta which we now make in the River Cafe, which is it's like carbonara, but it is with Langestine and it's really breaking all the rules. We do it with meta macrii, the kind of small rigatoni or you can do with penne, and then we do the Langestine pecorino and parmesan and butter and actually the sweetness of

Yeah's amazing, it is good.

So another thing that I'm interested, you know, we have one restaurant, and Wolfgang Puck came to the restaurant. I said, Wolfgang, I want to be like you and have forty restaurants, And he said, Ruthie, I want to be like you and have one. But I think the reason I tell this is that how do you control I think there are very few restaurants that have multiplied all over the

It's a really question of organization. Don't have to you need more organized? You cannot think about I go in the morning and make a shopping what they very found the market. I make my own there. You have to, you know, to have like like a company, you know, like my company. My company is more or less we have two hundred and seventy stores. I have organized everything because I'm not in China, I'm not in America, not in in say ooh, I'm not in Tokyo.

Means all the store must.

Be exactly the same, with the same service, with the same client telling, with the same customer relation, management, you have organized, you know, step by step you have the guys who runs people. The HRD is in Milano. We have an HRITY in Milano. They take care about Milanos area. Then have the guys report to him in Paris that take care about Paris.

You know, it's all.

It's all, you know, all the organization must go down to really the were the head of service that is in Milan, and the corporate in the corporate office. But as well we have in every in every restaurant, we have head of service that report the guys in in as well, like the chef and the guys there.

We teach the chefs here they all come to the.

First and then you know, all the chef we have all around is the chef they started down or they was here for like three four, five, six years. And then after we decided to move when we think we already we decided to move in Paris, in Samore, it's in Portofino, in different locations in Milano.

How was it for you in COVID, because COVID really started in Milan.

Milan, remember that it was the most destroyed city in Europe, you know, and actually we close, we close, we make Langustia Kaza. Yes, we make the sim service that we have in the restaurant delivery there with a totally different approjects delivery food. We have a small van, you know, refrigerator. We delivery everything by our own you know, our own people. We go into the house, we're prepared in the kitchen everything you know, and then we back home.

You went to people's houses and there for them.

Yes, yes, we also cook if you want, if they want, we also cook there or we only divide the product there. We live on the on the buffet. Whatever is this the past and not cook? You have to cook the pasta for six minutes. This was the source for the past, This source for what every tomato for the tuna and so on.

Yes, very challenging time, very challenging.

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Thank you. It's interesting. I used to think I have ski jackets that come from your man, Claire, and I think I was going to ask you if you designed the logo? Was that did you inherit that or did you design that you do it because it's so recognizable. It's such a beautiful logo.

Of all, the original logo was already there.

You know, the company was founded in nineteen fifty two, and the logo was this exactly that. Then we have other interpretations like the jacket, you have tone on tone, but the original logo when I bought the company was already there. I have all the kai from the fifty to sixty to seventy there. It was only this logo that is quite quite a charming It's beautiful.

Yeah, it just tells you something about It tells you about just adventure or paying outdoors. You bought Montclaire when you were old.

I was two thousand and three.

The company was bankrupt and it was my dream because when I was fourteen thirteen, fifteen years old, I was I use I love skiing, I love the mountain. I was living in Como with the motorbycle. Was very very cold in the morning when I go was cool. I used every day Montclair and then it was nice because after thirty years, twenty years, they told me Montclair is

Was it all still the look was the original look like then.

They have three four models only you know, very very big jacket, very heavy and you can use but really when the weather was very very cold, you know, otherwise was impossible because it was a jacket like this. So I try to work on R and D, research and develop and try to have something much more light, waterproof, try to really have product that can go from the mountain to the city, you know, because my idea at the beginning say okay, I cannot sell it only in the few store in the mountain.

I have to.

I think it was so comfort that you can use a down jacket also every day in the city. Means the first two three years I really work on the industrial part, on our research and development part, really to really to improve the quality. And then I start to build a company like having my you know again unique.

I tried to make my own strategy, my own vision, on my own.

Approach, and did you ever go to business school.

No, I started working like I was two months before turn twenty.

And your family were in fashion fashion.

Yes, are your children yes, I have two children, Pietro Romeo. Now it's thirty and thirty three. They're not children anymore.

They are start and they are a good friend of mine. And are they working in the company.

One is working in the olden company and in my olden company, and one is starting working a couple of years ago we just make an acquisition. The brand is called Stone Island. Yes, and you work on as a chief commercial Business Development.

What was foold like in your home with your child.

Because my son they are very healthy in terms of food, very very healthy. They like to have protein, only vegan protein. Then they tried to have.

Fifty Grandma pasta with lean until you know, very very healthy.

When they were little, did you did you know when there was there was little, there was disaster, disaster, they used to have this big bottle of hotela.

You know.

I always try to Yeah, and now they are very very healthy.

You always eat in your own restaurants or do you go to other restaurants?

No, I don't go often. I go in some mode is quite often because I like very much. My Milana, not very often. I like to go around. I eat mostly at home because when a MILANAM work and then you say, when I work, I want to be fresh in the morning. I don't go out too much because when I travel, I always at the restaurant, you know, and loan, you're now just come back from seven days in United States, fifteen city and seven days quite drunk.

Yeah, that's a lot as someone who skis and sales and so do you think there is to find a relationship between health and food the kind of food?

Yes, I think it is, you know, I'm really I love skiing. This is my first, my first port. I try to ski at least every weekend. I'm free thirty thirty five thirty eight some years skills of forty days.

You know.

That's very difficult because I have to work as well, and I try to finish my ski days, you know, and then avalunche. I don't like to have lunch stuff in the middle. Ye to start early, like eight thirty in the morning and finish skiing like one thirty two o'clock or one thirty like this, and then go to the different refugeo that we have differentially. That is around the mountain to have lunch. Mostly they are very simple,

Before I ask you my last question, I just want you to talk to me about pizza.

But this is the worst, the worst question that can make it. Because I'm so crazy about pizza.

We just do a whole episode of pizza. Tell me about.

Pizza, really the worst.

I think pizza is part of my life, unfortunately, because I really love pizza. We just bought a very special place in Rihonnesan Itai Naples Conti, one of the oldest pizzeria in Italy and they have a very good experience, incredible good experience. These guys he ran the sun that he ran the pizzeria because the father and mother they have another's very small pizza, but they only to go and he opened the real pizzeria just behind.

The energy is incredible. The food is incredible.

Tell me what it's not?

Is it?

The crust a thin crust.

No is a typical typical Naples, you know, typical Naples pizza.

But you know they have a really good recipt. They used to have they have this.

Zucchini pizza that is incredible. They do it like you know pasta and Erano. Rano's pasta zucchini with with the eggs and it. Tried to try pizza very similar to to to pasta and erano.

That is incredible. But they have like.

Not the normal pizza. No, they try to have the pizza with the flower of zucchini. They have to trying to try to then is in the sperience. They don't give you a pizza like this, you know, they come with the small pieces. They come with something like pizza, but with inside you know, special mozzarella. They have this lemon pizza, limo and mozzarella together. You know, don't talk about pizza with.

Me because you bring them all over it the pizzas.

I think now we open, we try to open in Capri the first location, but I think you want to move all around, maybe not all litally, but you know maybe Milani rom just just maybe in in Porto Finos area. That is quite interesting for the food. The idea is ready to develop this brend as well as Langusteria.

What do you do when you want food for comfort? If you're feeling that you need food, not because you're hungry or because, but sometimes food does make us give you comfort. It's like to be something from your childhood or something that you love. Is there a food that you would turn to for comfort?

Many times when I need something, it's comfort. I love Brazila that in northern Italy because linse is.

Brazila is big like this.

Brazila is dry Manzometer beef that is normally making north north Italy very close to the mountain, you know, because normally you have a huge braziala that I don't like match in this part when you go to we call Valtellina.

This area they specialized to make this very small.

That in our language is called Slinsega's little bit dialect, but slin Sega its very Itali. That is very It is long, like twenty large, like five centimeter, quite dry, and this is something I love.

Is retain a lot of salts.

So if I came to your house with there always be away always is there anything else? You always keep it the fridge.

From the fridge is I love? And other things is cornishon. I love cornishon that they make this kind of Swiss cornision that is very big and quite sweet and.

Thank you for you well, thank you so much.

We can go on for hours.

I told you we wouldn't have enough time, and there's so much to talk about. Wonderful to see you and continue the dreams. Yeah, thank you for

Sure, for sure, thank you for listening to Ruthie's Table four in partnership with Montclair