Having worked in Michelin-starred restaurants around the world for three decades, Tranchero became the executive chef for Barilla Asia, Africa and Australia in 2018.
Speaking on Rete Italia, Tranchero told listeners of his encounter with famed designer, Giorgio Armani, when he was the executive chef at the Armani restaurant inside the Armani/Ginza Tower in Tokyo.
“At the restaurant’s opening, I prepared a three-course menu for Giorgio Armani,” he said.
“Giorgio is a high-class man who likes simple, genuine and healthy food, so I made a tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad, followed by penne with tomato sauce and fruit salad with ice cream.
“To give the salad a little colour, I added some olives and quail eggs.
“The next morning, he came into the kitchen and asked me: ‘Why didn’t you do something simpler?’.”
Last week, Tranchero participated in an online event organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in Melbourne as part of the True Italian Taste project that promotes authentic Italian products and quality Italian food service across the world, with support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Participants got to see him in action in the kitchen of the Barilla Academy in Singapore, where he currently lives with his wife and two children.
For the occasion, ICCI Melbourne provided all participants with a box full of authentic Italian products and ingredients, delivered straight to their door.
The contents included cheese from Enoteca Sileno, arancini and croquettes from Food Art, and excellent wines selected by Twelve Bottles.
During the live session, Tranchero demonstrated a Sicilian pasta recipe, made with Barilla Collezione casarecce, Italian roasted broad beans, eggplant, garlic, chilli pepper, Scalia anchovies and Caroli extra virgin olive oil.
He walked participants through the entire cooking process step by step and answered questions along the way.
Born in Cuneo, in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, Tranchero later moved to Chivasso with his family and attended hospitality school in Turin.
At the age of 22, he gave up the position of head chef at the prestigious Carignano Restaurant in Turin and moved halfway around the world, to Japan.
After an intense season of work in Tokyo, Tranchero returned to Italy to cook in some of the country’s most renowned Michelin-starred restaurants, including Ristorante Baia Beniamin in Ventimiglia, Sadler Restaurant in Milan, and Al Sorriso, in Soriso, near Novara.
Then the chef was drawn back to Japan, working at several prestigious restaurants before taking the helm at the Armani restaurant from 2007 to 2010.
Tranchero then spent a year in China, where he was the executive chef at The River Club in Beijing, before moving to Australia.
Having received myriad awards and been recognised as “one of the finest chefs worldwide”, he moved to Perth in 2011, falling in love with the relaxed lifestyle and nature.
He was appointed the executive chef at Modo Mio at Crown Perth and became part of the Barilla Academy, representing Australia at the World Pasta Championship in 2012 and 2013, reaching the semi-finals in both editions.
In 2014, Tranchero became the executive chef of Barilla Australia and New Zealand, demonstrating his talent at countless food festivals and high-profile events.
He also played a fundamental role in Barilla’s presence at the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Australian Open; in addition to serving 16,000 plates of pasta a day to tennis fans, the brand also fed athletes including Roger Federer.
According to Tranchero, Federer is similar to Giorgio Armani in that he prefers simplicity: spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil, served with a sprinkling of parmesan three hours before a game.
