Gualtiero Marchesi had the opportunity to witness the beginnings of "nouvelle cuisine" in France before it arrived in Italy. The Troisgros family, with whom he worked, were famed for their innovative cooking. Their restaurant was in an area with no gastronomic legacy, and they had to rely on their skill, rather than on characteristic local ingredients.

What Gualtiero Marchesi learned from the Troisgros brothers in Roanne, was, above all, the importance of simplicity.

The beginnings of La Nouvelle Cuisine (French: the new cuisine) are likened to the Impressionists, abandoning mythical themes, and painting directly from nature. La Nouvelle Cuisine focused on the quality of the food itself. Marchesi was in tune with this idea, and at the same time, knew he'd found true artistry in the Troisgros brothers in Dijon, when he went to work with them in the late sixties.

From la nouvelle cuisine, which at its beginnings was reserved for fancy restaurants and connoisseurs and was looked upon with some scepticism, important lessons could be learned about cooking methods and the quality of the food itself.

Italians are very attached to tradition. In fact, although eating habits have changed, many traditional dishes, rather than being discarded, have been transformed. This means more variety and smaller portions, so that a diner will eat more than just a plateful of pasta.

Gualtiero Marchesi is an artist, using food to express his creativity. He's also headstrong, and doesn't easily accept other people's ideas. Step by step, he shows us how to make his famous open ravioli, beautiful to look at, and wonderful to taste!

The great chef, Gualtiero Marchesi, invites us to keep on dreaming, and to believe in our dreams. He takes us into his own dream, which has to do with cuisine as art. Consequently, the way in which food is presented takes on special importance.

Gualtiero's mind was working on his new cuisine, creating new dishes, but first he had to find a suitable place for a restaurant. Not an easy task!

After lots of searching, Gualtiero Marchesi finally finds a place that could work as the restaurant of his dreams.

Marchesi recounts how he transformed some dark basement rooms in Milan into a modern style restaurant that eventually made history.

Gualtiero's friends continue telling the story of the 1970s, when he finally opened his restaurant, on the via Bonvesin de la Riva in Milan. It was rough.

The sixties and seventies were magical years for Milan. Fashion design started undergoing important changes, and people started talking about food!

Fashion designer Chiara Boni talks about Milan in the seventies. Gualtiero Marchesi talks about combining tradition with innovation in both his art and his kitchen. Gastronomer Eugenio Medagliani talks about how at the beginning, people understood very little about this "nouvelle cuisine."

Gualtiero put some very fancy lamps in his new restaurant, but it stayed almost empty for a good while. He didn't give up, nor did he stoop to using the techniques a New York restaurant used when it opened.

Marchesi completely upsets the traditional concepts of cooking, and many think he's just too weird in his combinations and cooking times.