Chef Talk: Marriott Shanghai City Centre’s Sergio Zanetti

By Daisy Zhou

With the opening of the Marriott Shanghai City Centre, Executive Chef Sergio Zanetti is excited to get cooking again. After working around the world on several continents, he’s arrived in Shanghai, ready to take on the challenge of living and working in Mainland China.

“I like to discover new things, new culture, new people, new food and new ingredients,” says Zanetti. No surprise coming from a chef who has work in South Korea, Hong Kong, England, France, United States, Canada and a handful of countries around Africa. His boundless curiosity and energy keeps him moving, but despite his travels he holds on to his roots.

A native of Italy, Zanetti has laboured more than 30 years learning the culinary traditions of his homeland. He first learned to cook in Domodossola, a mountainous area near the Italian Alps and Lake Maggiore, where his grandmother taught him all about the pastas and sauces he would later embrace as a professional chef.

“My parents worked so they put me to live with my grandmother for days and days. That’s where I developed by passion for cooking,” he says. The first dish he ever made, a plate of dumplings, is still a vibrant memory for the chef, although not for the flavours. He scalded his face with hot water while making them. Not exactly the most fortuitous start to a career, but Zanetti picked up a few pointers during the early years studying in his grandmother’s kitchen.

“Natural balance means to use ingredients step by step. Don’t use more of one ingredient than the other. If I make things too spicy for instance, you won’t taste the other ingredients. You can’t taste the extra virgin olive oil, the taste of good fish, good vegetables, good wine,” he says. “I don’t believe a dish should be too sophisticated. I believe good ingredients make a good dish. To be simple and healthy, that is all you need.” 

Now in Asia, he’s excited for the change of pace, culture, environment and people, not to mention the chance to sample new foods and ingredients. His passions outside the kitchen, hiking and opera, aren’t necessarily Shanghai staples, but he plans to incorporate them into his life. Next year he hopes to trek China’s terrain during his off season. Until then, he’s readying the restaurant for the opening of the hotel on 15 September. It’s been a long process, but the pay-off is just around the corner. “I’m most excited to see this restaurant busy and finally see it full of people,” Zanetti says.