Testimonials

Interview with Enrico Pivieri, a 2.0 chef

Enrico Pivieri, young chef and patron of the Il Cavallo Scosso restaurant, represents one of the most interesting innovations in the Astigiana restaurant scene. Active in the heart of a territory rich in history and high quality products, Pivieri offers a cuisine that, without abandoning these solid roots, opens up to the world because - he maintains - "cooking has always been contamination". Thanks to Enoweb today he can devote himself, with greater intensity, to his research project to grasp the best of flavors and quality, from anywhere in the world to offer it to his customers.

How would you present your restaurant and cuisine?

“Look, ours is a very young reality. We have been open since April 2014. It’s a restaurant that doesn’t make large numbers, we are around 30 seats. Attention to quality is absolute and for this reason we cannot make large numbers, contrary to what happens abroad. In fact it’s very difficult for us to put the two together.

It is not easy to give a name to a type of cuisine, but if we want to force a little we can talk, as far as I'm concerned, about contemporary cuisine, at least for what are the techniques, since we use all the most innovative technologies: from low temperature cooking, to digitally controlled smoking ovens and so on ...

We have an almost obsessive attention to the quality of the products. We aren’t interested in following particular philosophies (zero kilometer, slow food products, labels of various kinds), we go beyond all this looking for quality wherever it is: whether it comes from under the house or from 10 thousand kilometers, the important thing is that there is quality.

This also allows our client to experience something different. We have a good part of local customers, gourmets who perfectly know the great products of Monferrato and Langhe, who also have the pleasure of trying something new every now and then. And in any case, cooking has been made of contamination since the dawn of time: if our oil, which is the best in the world, travels 10 thousand kilometers, I don't see why the New Caledonian shrimp cannot be offered by us.

What is fundamental for us is that there isn’t only quality in the product, but also in the production process of the food we offer to our customers. We are very careful about how the companies we source work from and - beyond the labels - what counts is the attention and rigor they put into production processes, which must be as sustainable as possible. Because it’s true that we use raw materials that come from very far away, but we are careful to compensate for all this by rewarding producers who work with a high level of sustainability. "

Let's now enter the cellar of the Cavallo Scosso, can you describe it for us? What were the problems that prompted you to use Enoweb?

“We have a fairly important cellar, with about 260 labels and almost 1500 bottles. Most of these are proposals linked to our territory, but now we are expanding the menu with labels outside the region and also something abroad, mainly from France (especially Champagne) and Germany. I also personally take care of the cellar, since today, in reality like ours where the kitchen manager is also responsible for the organizational part, the chef has turned into a “2.0” chef and must know how to take care of everything. I have always welcomed all those innovations that help me simplify the management of the various aspects of my business.

One of our most complex problems was that of managing the winery. At first you seem to have everything under control but then, when you decide that you want to give your customers a more attentive service, this becomes a very important problem. If you have a cellar with more than 250 labels, it is not easy to have a wine list on the customer's table that always faithfully represents what is in the cellar. To be able to guarantee a result like this with traditional systems, it would take a person who deals only with this thing, and this is impossible for a reality like ours. "

This is true but on the other hand I assure you that all the Sommeliers I interviewed are also very satisfied with the program.

"Yes, of course. It is natural that, having the possibility, instead of devoting the whole day to administrative matters, the sommelier can devote his time to research and study, instead of doing purely mechanical work. It's the same for me too. Today I dedicate the same time to wine as I did before, but now I have more time for research, to propose and try new labels. Do you think that before we worked with two Excel sheets. We tried to keep the bottle counts up-to-date but then in the end the mess always happened. So I started looking on the internet for a solution and, among the various proposals I saw, that of E-Group immediately seemed to me the one closest to my needs. It is true that there are also other realities that are trying to do something similar, but I found them a bit more immature as proposals, while here I immediately saw that there was concreteness in what was proposed to me and from here it was born our collaboration with E-Group. "

The installation of the program is quite recent. Are you already offering your customers digital paper?

“We will do it starting next week (end of February 2017 ed). In these days we have worked together with E-Group on the layout of the digital wine list and also on that of the print since our paper wine list is not in the traditional A4 format, but in 21x21, and I wanted to make it perfectly identical. We managed to get the desired result and now I just need the time to buy a couple of tablets and offer it to the tables.

In this regard, I also wanted to emphasize the extreme cooperation of the supplier given that all my customization requests have been fulfilled. "

So you weren't left alone once the installation was completed?

“No indeed, any request was granted almost immediately. Also because from what I understand this project is constantly updated.

The product has already achieved its goal but continues to grow and evolve thanks to the contribution that we end users give with our ideas.

So the customizations that we ask you to insert then become innovations that allow you to further improve the final product and this collaboration not only continues today, but on the other hand I find a willingness to listen constantly. "

What were the biggest advantages from your point of view?

“The whole question of wine has become more streamlined. There is much more tranquility. Having a wine list consistent with what is in stock is essential. We no longer have the anxiety of having to tell the customer that the product is finished and at the same time I don't have to worry about having the new paper printed every day. Even the fact of constantly saying to the room manager: "remember that this bottle is not there, be careful that the other one is about to end" ... was a nerve-wracking thing that created many problems for me.

Another important advantage is to be able to manage purchases more calmly. If I have finished a wine I don't necessarily have to run for cover right away. Even if I let a week go by, nothing happens. What matters is that the finished bottle is no longer in the wine list, so as not to run the risk of selling a product that we don't have. This is no small problem in a business like ours that doesn’t make large numbers and cannot afford to have large inventory.

Then the potential that the program allows for statistical analysis seems very interesting to me. I have just installed it and therefore haven’t yet started using it for this purpose, but it’s clear that now I will be able to plan my purchases much better by optimizing investments as much as possible since I have all the data relating to sales in the room under control.

Finally, another thing that I find very convenient is the labeling system which allows us to always be sure not to make mistakes when loading and unloading the bottles.

In short, wanting to conclude, can we say that Enoweb is the ideal tool not only for wine professionals but also for those who have to manage companies that make a lot of quality and small numbers? In short, for you chefs "2.0" ...?

"I would say yes."

[07-03-2017]

Piergiovanni Mometto [www.mometto.net]