Ciccio Sultano presents “I Banchi”
In 2009 an intuition was born, but time was needed to refine the idea. Today, that dream came true.
This is the new gastronomic proposal signed by acclaimed chef Ciccio Sultano.
In June, the spotlight will shine on “I Banchi,” a basilica of taste and art, honoring a place bestowed by the ancient Romans – a locale of varying purposes, from city assemblies to markets; historically a place of justice before it was used as a reception hall for the noble mansions.
I Banchi will comprise the first floors of Palazzo Diquattro in the baroque heart of Ragusa Ibla.
The execution of the kitchen is entrusted to Giuseppe Cannistrà, formerly one of two sous chefs of restaurant ‘Duomo’. Ciccio Sultano, obviously, will have final say over everything in keeping with his gastronomic imprint. After all, Sultano brought to life I Banchi – from the space, to the personal selection of products and purveyors, the redefinition of recipes and the creation of new ones; his trademarked care and attentiveness in selecting products – from cheeses to ancient grains discovered all over Sicily – from the use of quality ingredients to the selection of dishes proposed. Every corner of I Banchi is in harmony with Sultano’s ideals, a gastronomic experience that offers a different point of view on quality and Sicilian excellence.
Within the walls – by explicit request of the chef – are individual counters (“banchi”) where high quality culinary products become protagonists; a shopping experience not unlike what you find at the grocery store. A fish counter, bakery corner, salami counter, and confectionary production exposing the best offerings of curated artisanal food products in Sicily.
“The creative chef – Sultano explains to us, to better understand the genesis of this new project – craves pure adrenaline and new stimulation. At 45 years old, I’m still young but I didn’t want to wait any longer. I wanted to do something new to contribute to the sublime idea of food. From this intuition, “I Banchi” began to take shape with the idea of reinforcing the role of a chef in the artisanal production of bread and pasta. Redefining the use of space, for example, in which the kitchen is a creative office, the cellar becomes a place to be able to organize meetings or use for private events. I Banchi will have a community table with 20 seats to promote the ever-important ideal that food and art should be shared. Entering our ‘basilica’ – continues Sultano – we hope to immediately transmit the feeling of a traditional Sicilian “putìa” (a bottega, or alimentary shop) where the possibilities are endless given the presence of great products. Keeping in theme, I Banchi will welcome animators, musicians, designers, painters, sculptors and photographers, along with competitions of taste between pizza makers, cooks, bakers and pastry chefs whom represent – each in their own realm – the excellence of the territory at large. There will be no dull moments, nor a time when this space could ever be perceived as a ‘regular restaurant’. The ultimate protagonist remains the modern Sicilian kitchen, my defining and ultimate motivation, and for whom I proudly stand as a forerunner along with fellow colleagues who believe as I do in “Made in Sicily.””
Picture I Banchi as an imaginative wheel of food, constantly turning to propose a fun approach to food and cooking in a recreational context, where you have to experiment to exalt the enjoyment that chef Sultano promises to consumers.
“For all of this to become a reality – declares the chef – we have to thank our “friends of I Banchi”, the fortunate collaboration of supporters and partners who have made this project possible: ‘Mano a Mano’, ‘Moak’, ‘Gerratana’, ‘Giasira’, ‘Unibrand’ the official agency of Electrolux and KitchenAid. Each individual gastronomic excellence will be put on a pedastal, and every product will have its own heavenly corner. Imagine this place – concludes Sultano – as if it were ever evolving: what was here yesterday will not be present today, and even tomorrow will be different. But this is the very beauty of “I Banchi”, because if everything were foreseeable then there would be no playfulness in the experience, which is deliberately what I want to provide: the discovery of new products and a different language to convey the idea of taste.”