Chef Massimiliano Blasone
Massimiliano Blasone has resided as Executive Chef at Apsleys, a Heinz Beck Restaurant, since it re-launched in September 2009. Having worked under Heinz Beck for 11 years, he proved the ultimate and only choice to oversee Beck’s first restaurant in the UK.
Blasone’s culinary career began at the age of 15, gaining kitchen experience during school holidays before following his passion and excelling at catering school. This was followed by an impressive roster of experience at some of the world’s finest Michelin-starred restaurants.
His professional relationship with Beck commenced in 1999 when he joined the team at La Pergola in Rome. He then took on the role of Chef de Partie at three-starred Residenz Heinz Winkler, Ashau in Germany, before returning to La Pergola as Chef Tournant. The partnership with Beck was further cemented when he moved to California to work with Beck to devise a menu and wine pairing at Valentino in Napa Valley, embracing the difficult challenge of balancing fine wines with ingredients. Blasone continued developing this expertise when he moved back to the Castello Banfi Il Ristorante in Montalcino in Italy. Despite extensive global experience, Blasone counts his arrival in London and achievements to date amongst his proudest successes.
Chef Blasone manages a 24-strong team at Apsleys, relishing the diverse mix of cultural and culinary influences as well as skill-set this team brings. Blasone favours a hands-on management approach, assisting his team across every detail from mise en place to taste testing. His faithful Sous Chef, Marco Calenzo, has worked with Blasone for five years and he counts him as integral to the success of operations, as well as a very close friend. He describes his cooking as Cosmopolitan Italian which entails “fusion but not confusion,” reflecting cooking techniques he has learned from around the world to enhance traditional skills of an Italian kitchen, such as the innovative process of using compressed oxygen to tenderise meat, a technique he learned in Thailand, to improve the texture and quality of meat.
Having started as a pastry chef, he continues to combine his competences gained in various skills of the kitchen and insists that all of his team develop experience in each discipline. With an eye for detail and placing absolute precedence on quality, Blasone prefers to avoid too much advance preparation so to ensure that everything is as fresh as possible.
For Blasone, the ultimate goal on arrival at Apsleys was to secure a Michelin star within a year of opening and it is a great testament to the team’s drive and commitment to guest experience that Apsley’s became the fastest London restaurant to be awarded its first star within only five months. Blasone’s continued aim is to build on this quality and consistency.
