Stefano de Geronimo is the Italian chef at the Westin Bund Center’s restaurant Prego. Whilst de Geronimo is a relative newcomer to the gastronomic scene in Shanghai, he hasn't wasted any time in shaping the restaurant to suit his distinct culinary style. TALK caught up with the man behind the minestrone and found out about his love affair with food and his culinary roots.

Hailing from the industrial town of Brescia, de Geronimo could have ended up smelting steel and casting knives and forks but the winds of fate had different plans for the big Italian. “It’s a long story,” he says. “It began in my childhood when I was about 10 years old after seeing my mother and other family members cooking. It was a family eating event. You know, you sit around the table and it was an event and way to communicate, a sort of daily reunion.”

Other than his family de Geronimo doesn’t list any great culinary heroes in particular as his inspiration. “I’m inspired by the people I work with. Old executive chefs I have worked for and even the line cooks in my kitchen – they all inspire me.”

Humility is a character trait that is absent in many of world’s greatest chefs but de Geronimo has it in spades. He is clear on his role as a chef and believes that classic dishes require very little work to be delicious. “I don’t invent as most of the time it’s already been done before,” he says. “I concentrate on making sure the food has a beautiful taste and a fantastic texture, because at the end of the day a tomato is still tomato whatever you do to it.”

But that’s not to say that eating at Prego is a banal experience. Quite the contrary in fact; de Geronimo just believes that if you prepare the food well you can let the ingredients speak for themselves. “I’m convinced that fresh, organic, seasonal ingredients are the best. As I said I don’t try to change classics. I simply add my own ideas,” he says.

“A traditional caprese salad is presented as raw tomato and buffalo mozzarella. I do mine with baked skinless tomatoes with rocket and black olive pestos, its different but remains true to the original.”

Catering for the diverse Shanghai palate is a challenge for any chef. However, de Geronimo feels that Western and Asian foods aren’t as different as they first seem. “I can only see a few differences, like the extreme spices and way of cooking the food. But other than that, Italian and Chinese are similar. We have chilli, coriander seeds, and black peppercorns. These spices were brought from Indonesia and Zanzibar by travellers to both Italy and China. The food is different but the same. I mean in some of the provinces they have a sort of gnocchi!”

Modern cuisine has a tendency to cheat the patron out of a full belly. Often when you order spaghetti bolognaise, only a few lonely-looking strands of pasta and a small helping of sauce arrive at your table. But de Geronimo holds to his Italian roots and reckons that you can have quality and quantity.”When I think of portion sizes I always think of what Sophia Loren said. She was considered a beautiful actress in her time, and her curves were famous. She used to say that ‘All you see I owe to spaghetti’. And it’s the same with me.”

What the future holds for one of Shanghai’s favourite Italian chefs no one knows, not even the man himself. “I like the future to give me surprises. In a job like this our bodies suffer severe consequences. All I hope for is that I can be wealthy and healthy enough to enjoy life.”